NAR has surveyed primary residence homebuyers periodically since 1981 by asking them “was this your first home purchase?”
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Accordingt to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the age of first-time buyers is trending lower over time to 36.3 in 2024, down from nearly age 38 in 2000. AnnMarie – stock.adobe.com
This survey method is the most direct way to gauge the age of first-time buyers, but faces challenges due to its response rate and sample size.
In 2025, NAR mailed out 173,250 questionnaires, which could also be completed online, but had a response rate of just 3.5%. Of the responses, just 1,281 were from self-reported first-time buyers, making for a fairly small sample size.
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