Affordability improvements help first-time homebuyers
Homebuyers in the U.S. skewed slightly younger in 2025 as mortgage rates eased and affordability improved modestly.
New data from Redfin show the median age of first-time buyers fell to 35, down from 36 in 2024 and below a recent peak of 38 in 2018. The median age of repeat buyers also declined, dropping to 47 from 52 the previous year, which had marked a 25-year high.
The shift comes as borrowing costs edged lower. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.6% in 2025, compared with 6.72% in 2024. Home prices continued to rise, but price growth slowed. Redfin reported that affordability improved in most major U.S. metros and is expected to improve further this year.
Homeownership rates among younger generations also increased slightly. Gen Z’s homeownership rate rose to 27.1% from 26.1% a year earlier, while millennials’ rate increased to 55.4% from 54.9%.
Costs still surging
Younger buyers are more likely to be purchasing their first home and often rely on savings and income rather than equity from a prior sale. According to Redfin, even small improvements in affordability can help more first-time buyers enter the market, which may explain the dip in median age. However, over the longer term, housing costs have grown faster than wages.
“Housing costs have steadily risen over the last few decades, especially in the last five years with the pandemic homebuying frenzy pushing up prices and the subsequent rise in mortgage rates,” said Chen Zhao, head of economics research at Redfin.
“Wages have increased, too, but not as quickly, making it more difficult to afford a home. But the typical age of first-time homebuyers hasn’t changed much in that span, suggesting that more millennials and Gen Zers are getting help from family to buy a home, or using other sources of income like money that would have gone to their retirement savings.”
Cash gifts common
A 2025 Redfin survey found that 19.6% of millennials who recently purchased a home received a cash gift from family to help with a down payment. Among Gen Z buyers, 14.8% reported the same. About one in five recent buyers in both generations sold stock investments to fund their purchase, and 13% withdrew money early from retirement accounts.
Redfin’s estimates differ from those released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in November 2025. NAR reported the median age of first-time buyers as 40 and repeat buyers as 62.
Both sets of data point to a longer-term trend of Americans buying homes later in life compared with a decade or two ago. However, their recent findings differ. Redfin’s data show the median age of first-time buyers peaking at 38 in 2018 before falling to 35. NAR’s data show the median age rising from 32 in 2018 to 40 in 2025.
Redfin’s analysis is based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, using data from 1976 through 2025. The survey tracks homeowner households that moved within the past year and their reasons for moving. Because it does not directly ask whether someone is a first-time or repeat buyer, Redfin classifies respondents as first-time buyers if they report moving to own rather than rent or to start their own household. All others are counted as repeat buyers.
