By Aijaz Alam
What is the average age of a first-time home buyer?
The median first-time home buyer in the US was 40 years old in the National Association of REALTORS' 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, covering purchases from July 2024 to June 2025. That is a record high, up from 38 a year earlier, while first-time buyers fell to a record-low 21% of all buyers.
- 40Median age of US first-time home buyers, a record highNAR 2025 Profile, Jul 2024-Jun 2025
- 38Median age a year earlierNAR 2024 Profile, Jul 2023-Jun 2024
- 21%Of home buyers were first-time buyers, the lowest since 1981NAR 2025 Profile
- 10%Median down payment of first-time buyers, matching the highest since 1989NAR 2025 Profile
The numbers
The full breakdown
Share of each generation's home purchases that were first homes
| Buyer group | Ages | First-time share |
|---|---|---|
| Younger Millennials | 27 to 35 | 60% |
| Older Millennials | 36 to 45 | 33% |
| Gen X | 46 to 60 | 21% |
| Younger Boomers | 61 to 70 | 8% |
| Older Boomers | 71 to 79 | 4% |
| Silent Generation | not given | 3% |
| All buyers | all ages | 21% |
NAR 2026 Generational Trends report, built on the same survey of 6,103 buyers as the 2025 Profile (Jul 2024 to Jun 2025). Read each row as: of this group's purchases, this share were first homes.
Over time
Median age of home buyers in NAR's annual Profile
| Profile | Purchases from | First-time buyers | Repeat buyers | All buyers | First-time share of all buyers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 Profile | Jul 2022 to Jun 2023 | 35 | 58 | 49 | 32% |
| 2024 Profile | Jul 2023 to Jun 2024 | 38 | 61 | 56 | 24% |
| 2025 Profile | Jul 2024 to Jun 2025 | 40 | 62 | 59 | 21% |
Median ages. The 2023 row is the prior-year figure printed in NAR's 2024 Profile highlights ("from 35 last year"); the 2025 repeat and all-buyer ages are from NAR's 4 Nov 2025 release. NAR says the typical first-time buyer was in their late 20s in the 1980s; we do not yet have the exact age for each year before the 2023 Profile.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Jul 2024 to Jun 2025 | NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers | Median age; buyers of a home to live in, mail survey of 6,103 |
| 38 | Jul 2023 to Jun 2024 | NAR 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers | Same survey, one year earlier |
| 59 | Jul 2024 to Jun 2025 | NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers | Median age of all buyers, first-time and repeat together; repeat buyers alone were 62 |
| Late 20s | 1980s | NAR, describing the 1980s | True decades ago and still repeated as if current |
Most people search for the average age, but NAR reports the median: half of first-time buyers were older than 40 and half younger. A median is not pulled up by a few much older buyers, so an average from the same data could be different. The figures on this page are NAR medians. The figure also covers only people buying a home to live in. Investors and vacation-home buyers are left out, and so are people who bought outside the July to June survey year. The "late 20s" figure that still appears in articles and lender ads describes the 1980s, not today. Vendor surveys run by listing sites or lenders use their own samples and definitions of a first-time buyer, so their ages can differ from NAR's. When you quote an age, say whose survey it is, whether it is a median, and which year of purchases it covers.
What it means
How to use these numbers
The typical first-time buyer is now 40, not a couple in their late 20s, and the age has risen fast: 35 in the 2023 Profile, 38 in 2024 and 40 in 2025. Repeat buyers are older still, at a median of 62. Marketing, ads and listing copy aimed at first-time buyers should picture people who have often rented for years and are buying later in their careers.
The pool is also smaller. Only 21% of buyers in the 2025 Profile were first-time buyers, down from 24% a year earlier. For agents and lenders, that means first-time buyers are a narrow slice of the market and worth a clear, separate message.
Younger buyers have not disappeared. Of purchases by Younger Millennials (aged 27 to 35), 60% were first homes, so first-time messages still work for that group.
Costs explain much of the delay. The 30-year mortgage rate averaged 7.32% in the week of 22 Oct 2026, and the median existing-home price was $417,500 in September 2026. First-time buyers in the Profile put down a median 10%, matching the highest level since 1989. Saving that deposit takes time, which pushes the first purchase later.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- National Association of REALTORS, Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2025
- Sample
- 120-question survey mailed to 173,250 recent buyers of a primary residence in July 2025; 6,103 responses, adjusted response rate 3.5%
- Margin of error
- +/- 1.25 points at 95% confidence for shares
- Definition
- First-time buyer: has never owned a home before this purchase. Median age: the middle age when all first-time buyers are lined up by age. Investors and vacation homes are excluded
- Checked at source
- 23 Oct 2026, NAR release on the 2025 Profile (published 4 Nov 2025); 30 Oct 2026, the same release for repeat and all-buyer ages and the 2024 Profile highlights PDF for the 2023 and 2024 rows
- Next release
- NAR publishes the Profile each November; the 2024 and 2025 editions both came out on 4 Nov
- Last changed
- 30 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers; Generational Trends; Existing-Home Sales, National Association of REALTORS Industry body
- Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), Freddie Mac Industry body
Cite this page
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Is 40 the average or the median age of first-time buyers?
The median. NAR reports the median: half of first-time buyers in its 2025 Profile were older than 40 and half younger. An average would be pulled up by the oldest buyers.
How old were first-time buyers in the 1980s?
NAR says the typical first-time buyer was in their late 20s in the 1980s. The median was 35 in the 2023 Profile, 38 in the 2024 Profile and 40 in the 2025 Profile.
How much do first-time buyers put down?
The median down payment for first-time buyers in the 2025 Profile was 10%, matching the highest level NAR has recorded since 1989.
Why are first-time buyers getting older?
NAR points to limited affordable homes and high costs. The 30-year mortgage rate averaged 7.32% in the week of 22 Oct 2026, and the median existing-home price was $417,500 in September 2026.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (National Association of REALTORS, Freddie Mac). Free to cite with a link to this page.