The market share of first-time homebuyers reached 24% in the past year, according to the 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The latest version of the annual survey of homebuyers and sellers tracked transactions between July 2023 and June 2024. It found that the market share for first-time homebuyers fell 8% from 2023’s market share of 32% to 24%, the lowest level since the survey was first published in 1981. The report found that the average age of all homebuyers hit an all-time high of 56, 7 years older than a year ago. First-time homebuyers averaged 38 years old, which was 3 years older than last year’s findings. Repeat buyers also skewed older, with the average age being 61, compared to 58 in 2023.

Other findings include the median down payment was 18% among all homebuyers and 9% for first-time buyers. The median household income for homebuyers in 2023 rose to $108,800, almost $2,000 higher than the year before. First-time buyers had median household incomes of $97,000, up $1,100 from the prior year and an increase of $26,000 in the past two years. Repeat buyers had a median household income of $114,300, rising $1,600 from the previous year.

“The U.S. housing market is split into two groups: first-time buyers struggling to enter the market and current homeowners buying with cash,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research. “First-time buyers face high home prices, high mortgage interest rates and limited inventory, making them a decade older with significantly higher incomes than previous generations of buyers. Meanwhile, current homeowners can more easily make housing trades using built-up housing equity for cash purchases or large down payments on dream homes.”

The NAR found that 83% of recent homebuyers identified as White or Caucasian, while 7% identified as Black/African American. Another 6% identified as Hispanic/Latino, 4% as Asian/Pacific Islander and 3% as other ethnicities.

On the other side of the transaction, home sellers are also getting older, with the average age reaching 63. The share of married couples selling their homes was 69%, which was up from 65% last year and the first increase in four years. About 90% of home sellers sold with the assistance of a real estate agent, up from 89% last year. Only 6% of home sellers sold their homes without an agent, an all-time low.