Young adults need lower housing prices not longer mortgages.

The median age of first-time home buyers is now 40, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors . Among all buyers, the median age was 59. Home buyers are more likely to be near or at retirement age than young, married parents.

It wasn’t always like this . In 1991, the median age of first-time home buyers was 28. It has generally been around 30 for decades. In 2017, the median age of first-time home buyers was 32 . In 2025, those same buyers are now 40 — the current median age for first-time home buyers. It’s the same cohort of people.

This is a major problem. Owning a home — or at least the realistic possibility of doing so — has long been an essential part of the American Dream. Homeownership settl

See Full Page