By Townhall Chicago News Staff
The share of first-time home buyers rose slightly to 22 percent from last year’s record low of 21 percent, while the median age of first-time buyers held at an all-time high of 40, according to a report released Thursday by the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors.
The 2026 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, which covers transactions from July 2025 through June 2026, found a record 10 percent of first-time buyers paid all cash. Among those all-cash first-time buyers, 28 percent used an inheritance, compared with 9 percent of first-time buyers who financed their purchase.
“Affordability remains the biggest hurdle for first-time buyers,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in the report. “The share of first-time buyers is still about half the historical norm of 40% seen before 2008, and those saving on their own continue to face high rent, student debt, and a shortage of homes they can afford.”
The data paints a picture of a housing market increasingly shaped by generational wealth transfers. First-time buyers who paid all cash had a median age of 54, compared with 38 for those who financed.
“The housing market is beginning to see a generational transfer of wealth,” Lautz said. “It’s not yet a tsunami, but it is changing who can buy a first home and when. Because people are living longer, the generation receiving that wealth is no longer young adults. Many are reaching middle age before they can buy their first home.”
Repeat buyers dominated the market, accounting for 78 percent of all home purchases. Their median age matched the all-time high of 62. Repeat buyers had a median household income of $127,000, up from $111,700 the prior year. Thirty percent of repeat buyers paid all cash.
Across all buyers, the median age was 58, down from 59 last year. Twenty-six percent had children under 18 living at home, up from 24 percent the year before. Fourteen percent purchased a multigenerational home, and 4 percent purchased with non-romantic roommates, an all-time high.
Real estate agent use reached its highest level in four decades. Ninety percent of all home buyers used an agent or broker, and 92 percent of sellers did the same, an all-time high. The for-sale-by-owner share matched a record low of 5 percent.
“Agent use among buyers and sellers is at its highest level in four decades,” Lautz said. “This might seem counterintuitive given consumers have access to more information than ever before. However, all that information can be misleading without proper context.”
For sellers, the median time in a home before selling reached an all-time high of 12 years. The median distance moved was 30 miles. The top reason for selling was to move closer to friends and family, cited by 22 percent.
NAR sent the survey to 228,250 recent home buyers in July and received 7,125 responses from primary residence buyers.
The findings reflect ongoing affordability pressures felt across major metro areas, including the Chicago region, where property values and mortgage rates continue to shape who can enter the market.
Source: National Association of Realtors
