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Buying a home can be expensive and difficult.
The changing characteristics of the typical first-time homebuyer in America are proof of the strain.
Buyers making it to the closing table for the first time are older than ever, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors, or NAR.
The typical first-time buyer now has a median age of 38 — up from 35 in 2023. By comparison, first-time homebuyers in the 1980s were usually in their late 20s, according to the NAR.
As affordability concerns prompt many Americans to postpone buying homes, first-time buyers now account for only 24% of the market share — a decrease from last year's 32% and the lowest percentage since the NAR began collecting data in 1981.
As of September, the median sales price of a home in the US was $404,500, according to NAR.
The typical first-time homebuyer is richer than ever, too. In 2024, they had a median household income of $97,000, up from $95,900 in 2023 and $71,000 in 2022.
First-time buyers largely have the pandemic's housing boom to blame for their homebuying woes.
The government stimulus provided during the early days of the pandemic, coupled with extremely low mortgage rates, sparked one of the most pronounced housing booms in US history.
Those who managed to buy homes during this period have accumulated significant equity, while those who were unable to enter the market have found themselves shut out, facing a shortage of available homes, higher mortgage rates, and living costs.
This has been especially devastating for younger Americans — Gen Zers and millennials — whose wages haven't kept pace with the financial requirements to buy a home.
Many first-time buyers are at a crossroads: they can either postpone buying a home or abandon the idea of homeownership altogether.
Jorge Argota, 35, runs his own digital marketing agency in Miami and earned about $120,000 last year.
With homes that he would want to buy in Florida approaching $1 million, Argota said that becoming a homeowner feels unrealistic. He's decided to keep renting.
"For me, renting an apartment in Miami is more affordable than buying a nice house with a $3,000 or $4,000 mortgage,' he told Business Insider in October. "If I were to buy my own home, I would lose too much money. It just doesn't make sense."
Madelyn Driver, 35, told BI in June that she and her husband are struggling to find a home to buy in the US that checks all their boxes. They both have six-figure incomes.
"Our incomes could support a much higher housing price, but we really want to avoid being 'house-poor' and trapped in a higher monthly mortgage amount," she said.
The couple is dedicated to finding an affordable home that meets all their requirements and has agreed to take their time before making a purchase.
"We won't compromise on things like a safe area and neighborhood, square footage, and property acreage," she said. "But, if we can't find the perfect home, we'd be open to buying a less expensive house that might need more serious work."
