Published by REALTOR.com | April 3, 2024
About 38% of all buyers were millennials last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s up from 28% in the previous year.
Millennials are finding ways to become homeowners—despite an extremely challenging and expensive housing market.
About 38% of all buyers were millennials last year, according to the National Association of Realtors®’ 2024 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report. That’s up from 28% in the previous year.
What’s more: About a third of all buyers, 32%, purchased their very first homes—even with high prices and mortgage rates. First-time buyers made up only 26% of home shoppers in the year before.
“What’s important to note about millennials being the biggest generation of buyers is older millennials are more likely to be repeat buyers in the market,” says NAR’s Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz. “They have earned housing equity that allows them to make housing trades. Younger millennials are more likely to be first-time homebuyers. They’re more likely to use family help to assist them into homeownership.”
The report is based on a survey of more than 6,800 buyers who purchased a primary residence in the 12 months ending June 2023. The income data in the report was from 2022. (NAR defined Generation Z as those born between 1999 and 2011; millennials born between 1980 and 1998; and Generation X born between 1965 and 1979. Baby boomers were 1946 through 1964, while the silent generation was 1925 through 1945.)
The fact that there are more millennial and first-time buyers might come as a surprise during a time when there is a dearth of properties for sale—and rising mortgage rates and home prices have made purchasing a home increasingly unaffordable. Today’s buyers are now spending 97% more on their monthly mortgage payments than they did four years ago. (This calculation uses the most recent Realtor.com® home list price data and Freddie Mac’s average weekly mortgage rate data. It also assumes buyers put down 20% and does not include taxes, insurance, or homeowners association fees.)
And yet 17% of younger millennials, aged 25 to 33, and 21% of older millennials, 34 to 43, were able to purchase homes, according to the NAR report. Homebuyers had a median income of $107,000, with younger millennials having a median household income of $106,000 and older millennials having $127,700.
“Millennials are an enormous demographic. As rising interest rates sent shock waves through the housing market, many millennials reassessed plans,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “But while they may have delayed homeownership ambitions, this year’s data show that this generation will not be deterred.”
