First-time homebuyers are getting older. So much so, the National Association of Realtors had to scrap the photo it was planning to use on the cover of a new report .

"The original cover had a very cute, young couple who was expecting, and I said, 'That's not going to work,'" says Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist for the Realtors' association. "We're not seeing young couples, unfortunately, so it didn't match."

Instead, the Realtors went with photo showing a couple near retirement age — more representative of the average buyer's age, 59, in today's high-priced market. Among first-time buyers, the average age was 40 — an all-time high.

First-time buyers accounted for only about one in five homes sold during the 12 months ending in June. That's a record low and half the share of fi

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