The Average Homebuyer in America is 56 YEARS OLD

A few months ago, I wrote an article here on RVIVR called “Is the American Dream DEAD for Gen Z”. In that article, I briefly discussed the inordinate amount of wealth that the Baby Boomer generation has acquired to the detriment of younger generations.

Much of the Boomer’s wealth has been tied to the rapid appreciation of American home prices over the last thirty years. According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the median home prices in the United States has skyrocketed from $134k in Q2 1995 all the way to over $410k in July 2025.

A substantial portion of the increase in housing prices has occurred over the last 5 years. In that timeframe, the median American home has become nearly 30% more expensive—moving up from $317k in Q2 2020 to $411k in Q2 2025.

Certainly, the rapid increase in housing prices has negatively affected the ability for younger Americans to purchase homes. Recent economic research shows that American households in most states need incomes well over $100k to afford homes. A vast majority of younger Americans at the beginning of their careers are not making over six figure incomes in their early careers, so housing is out of the question for younger Americans due to stagnant wages, burdensome student loan debt, and sky-high home prices.

The current economic data is fairly bleak when it comes to the age of first-time homebuyers in America. In fact, the average age of a first-time homebuyer in the United States rose to 38 years old in 2024—ten years higher than the average first-time home buyer in 1991.

This combination of high home prices and elevated mortgage rates has created the current situation where the average age of a homebuyer in the United States is over 56 years old in 2024— compared to the average age being 35 years old in 1991. According to data from the National Realty Association, Americans under 45 made up LESS than 20% of homebuyers in the United States. Therefore, there are now more Americans over the age of 70 buying homes than 25 to 45 year-olds.

Unfortunately, there is little political will among our country’s political and elite class to fix the homeownership problem affecting young Americans. The political left in the United States seems to focus more on illegal aliens than native-born Americans, and the political right seems to care more about lowering corporate tax rates and protecting the Social Security payments for the wealthiest generation in American history (i.e. the Baby Boomers).

Recently, I came across a YouTube video from popular creator Gerbert Johnson. As a young Gen Z man, Gerbert provides some much-needed perspective about the struggles that young Americans face in our Baby Boomer-dominated economy and political system.