A new study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows rising home prices are hammering millennials as the number of first-time home buyers dips to a record low.
The survey, which queried 173,250 home buyers who purchased homes between July 2024 and July 2025, finds first-time home buyers dipped to a record low of just 21% while the typical age of a first-time home buyer hit an all-time high of 40 years old.
Says Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research,
“The historically low share of first-time buyers underscores the real-world consequences of a housing market starved for affordable inventory. The share of first-time buyers in the market has contracted by 50% since 2007 – right before the Great Recession.
The implications for the housing market are staggering. Today’s first-time buyers are building less housing wealth and will likely have fewer moves over a lifetime as a result.”
NAR says delayed or denied homeownership until age 40 instead of 30 can mean losing roughly $150,000 in equity on a typical starter home.
Another notable trait of first-time home buyers includes them making 10% down payments on their purchases – matching the highest recorded since 1989, according to the survey.
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