Deputy chief economist at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Jessica Lautz, described the U.S. housing market as “starved for affordable inventory” in a press release announcing an annual report on homebuying activity published by the association Tuesday.
As a historic housing market slowdown stretches into 2026, stark affordability barriers have had a disproportionate impact on younger, first-time homebuyers, who will feel the opportunity cost of delayed homeownership.
“The implications for the housing market are staggering,” said Lautz. The median age of first-time homebuyers rose to 40 from July 2024 to June 2025, the span of NAR’s reporting, as the share of first-time homebuyers among all transactions dropped to 21%.
Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, the share of first-time buyers had a historical norm of 40%. That share shrank to 24% last year, accompanying a rise in their median age from 35 to 38, according to last year’s annual report from NAR.
Describing a housing market that mirrors the U.S.’s broader “K-shaped” economy, Lautz said she sees “buyers with significant housing equity making larger downpayments and all-cash offers, while first-time buyers continue to struggle to enter the market.”
First-time homebuyers used a median downpayment of 10%, compared to 23% for repeat buyers and 19% among all buyers, their highest levels in more than two decades.
Nearly one-third of repeat buyers paid all cash, with the median age of repeat buyers rising to 62 from 61 in last year’s report. The median age of all homebuyers was 59.
These housing market dynamics have led to homes turning over at their slowest pace in decades. Among sellers who responded to NAR’s survey, the median time between purchasing and selling was 11 years — an all-time high, according to NAR.
Otherwise called homeownership tenure, the time between a home’s purchase and its sale was closer to four years in the third quarter of 2004, prior to the 2008 financial crisis, according to real estate analytics firm Attom.
“Today, we must focus on policies that address the root cause of the affordability crisis: inadequate housing supply,” added NAR Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn. She said such policies should “encourage more owners to sell, revitalize underused properties, streamline local zoning and permitting barriers and modernize construction methods.”
