First-Time Home Buyer Share Falls To Record Low
The share of first-time home buyers fell to its lowest level on record in 2025, according to the 2026 Home Buyers and Generational Trends report of the National Association of Realtors. Just 21% of home buyers were first-time purchasers.
Millennials were the only generation to experience a decline in home buying, as their share of all buyers slipped from 29% to 26% in the year. However, there was a difference in their responses to the survey on which the report was based, according to age.
Older millennials, for example — now entering middle age, according to the report, have more flexibility to leverage equity in their current home to move up, although a third were first-time buyers. At $132,700, they had the highest median household income of any generation, bought larger homes (median 2,100 square feet) and were more likely to have children living with them.
Younger millennials – 60% of whom were first-time buyers – generally did not have these advantages.
"For many younger households, affordability challenges and limited inventory are still making homeownership difficult to achieve," said NAR Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz.
Among the youngest homebuyers, Generation Z, 35% of buyers were single females – the highest of any generation. Unmarried couples made up 17% of buyers in this age group. Gen Z in total made up 4% of all buyers.
"For many of these buyers, marriage and children are no longer the defining milestones before a home purchase," Lautz commented. "Their driving force is simply the desire to own a home of their own."
And once again, Baby Boomers made up the lion's share of the buying market, still 42%. They also composed 55% of all home sellers, with older boomers typically selling after 15 years in their homes. They are no longer driven to sell just for a job, but often move to be closer to family and friends or to downsize or retire.
The share of buyers purchasing multi-generational homes fell from 17% to 14%. The highest share of buyers in this category was Gen X (19%), citing reasons like caring for aging parents, cost savings and adult children moving back home. Gen X was followed by the Silent Generation (16%), older Millennials and younger Boomers (14% each).
Source: GlobeSt/ALM