The National Association of Realtors is out with its 2022 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, and with it, new record data.
According to NAR, at just 26 percent, the share of first-time buyers was the lowest since NAR began tracking the data. That stat is down from 34 percent last year and a peak of 50 percent in 2010 during the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.
NAR also found that the typical first-time buyer was 36 years old—an all-time high. That’s up from 33 years one year ago, while the typical repeat buyer’s age climbed to 59 years from 56 years in 2021.
“It’s not surprising that the share of first-time buyers shrank to the lowest level ever recorded given the housing market’s combination of historically low inventory, persistently high home prices and rapidly escalating interest rates,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR vice president of demographics and behavioral insights.
“Those who have housing equity hold the cards and they’ve fared very well in the current real estate market,” Lautz continued. “First-time buyers are older as a result of saving for down payments for longer periods of time or relying on a generational transfer of wealth to propel them into homeownership.”
The median distance between the home that recent buyers purchased and the home from which they moved was 50 miles—also a record high and more than a three-fold jump from a median of 15 miles from 2018 through 2021. The shares of homes purchased in small towns (29 percent) and rural areas (19 percent) were all-time highs.
Nearly nine in 10 buyers purchased or sold a home using a real estate agent or broker.