For a corner of consumer finance as data heavy as mortgage lending, an outside observer to the world of LTVs, DTIs and LLPAs could be forgiven for thinking that calculating the age of a typical first-time homebuyer would be a relatively simple exercise.
But with the housing finance industry well into 2026 already, the best guess of experts inside the industry as to the typical age of a first-time homebuyer in 2025 is instead an age range somewhere between 30 and 40 years old.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and National Association of Realtors (NAR) published dueling estimates at the end of last year underscoring very different approaches — and therefore outcomes — in calculating the age of a first-time buyer.
MBA estimated that the typical age of first-time homebuyers fell to 32 last year from 33 in 2024, and “is likely not much older than one a decade ago.” Reporting from the Realtor association put the typical first-time homebuyer at 40 in 2025, up from 38 in 2024 as part of a decade-long upward trend.
Not only do the trade groups differ on the number, but also on the aging trend part and parcel of falling first-time homebuyer purchase share amid poor purchase affordability.
The plot thickened this week with a new analysis from Redfin that effectively splits the difference between MBA and NAR estimates, indicating that the typical age of a first-time homebuyer last year was 35, down from 36 the previous year.
Importantly, however, Redfin economists support the aging trend that NAR identifies while also throwing a grain of salt toward the MBA’s more circumspect assessment.
“Americans are buying homes later in life than they did a decade ago or two decades ago, even if the exact median age varies depending on how it’s measured,” the report says. “But Redfin’s findings show that in recent years, the typical first-time homebuyer has gotten slightly younger.”
The report also cites Federal Reserve Bank of New York calculations that peg the first-time buyer age at slightly over 36 in 2024, the most recent year for which it has published statistics. The National Mortgage Database, as Scotsman Guide has previously reported, shows the first-time buyer age rose from 30 to 33 from 2014 to 2024, before dipping to 32 in 2025.
Redfin also reports that the typical age of 47 for a repeat buyer in 2025 was markedly lower than NAR’s estimate of 62.
The listings platform attributes the different age estimates to different methodologies, diplomatically noting that “both approaches are useful and answer slightly different questions.” Redfin’s analysis examined U.S. Census Bureau data, compared to NAR’s use of household survey responses.
“NAR’s survey specifically identifies first-time buyers and offers insight into the characteristics of people actively buying homes in today’s market,” the report concludes, “while Redfin’s Census-based approach provides a broader, population-level view of Americans moving to form their own households or become homeowners.”
