The share of first-time homebuyers fell to the lowest point on record this year — nearly half the level it was in 2008 — as the median age of all buyers continued to rise and first-time buyers are older than ever.
At the same time, the number of all-cash buyers remained at the highest level on record, at 26 percent of buyers. That’s according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors released on Tuesday.
The report, the 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, provided a harrowing look at the state of the U.S. housing market after years of relentlessly high borrowing costs and rising prices.
The median age of first-time homebuyers rose to 40, the highest ever, and up from late 20s in the 1980s, NAR found. And there has been a notable uptick in the age of all buyers over the past three years.
Fewer renters are making the leap to homeownership, the study found, as the share of homebuyers who rented their previous home before purchasing fell to an all-time low of 24 percent. Meanwhile, the share that bought a home after owning their previous home rose to a high of 65 percent.
The report was the latest indication that homeowners are moving less frequently as rates and prices remain high and doubts about the broader economy persist. Homesellers have owned their homes for an all-time high of 11 years, NAR found.
The typical age of homesellers also rose to the highest on record, at 64 years old. That was up from a median age of 47 for all sellers in 2005, according to NAR.
Eighty-eight percent of all buyers used a real estate agent or broker, NAR reported. The share was even higher, at 92 percent, for buyers of existing-homes.
The number of for-sale-by-owner sellers fell to a record low 5 percent, NAR reported. That share was 21 percent in 1985, NAR data show.
The report also shed light on possible motivations for the small share of sellers who went it alone.“For 30 percent of all FSBO sellers, the main reason to sell via FSBO was that they sold to a relative, friend, or neighbor,” the report said. “Twenty-eight percent of all FSBO sellers did not want to pay a commission or fee.”
An all-time low of 24 percent of buyers had children under the age of 18 at home, which NAR said is a possible result of a long-running decline in birth rates.
Eighty-one percent of all sellers were empty-nesters, the report found.
