Baby boomers are now the busiest buyers in the housing market. As a generation, they make up 42% of all home buyers, and many of them are paying cash, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The report is based on answers to a July 2024 survey of 168,0000 recent home buyers with a 3.2% response rate. Respondents were classified by age.
Baby boomers included an older group aged 70-78 and a younger category aged 60-69. Combined, they were the largest category of home buyers. Half of the older group and 40% of the younger ones pay entirely with cash. That may be because Boomers and the even older Silent Generation also dominated the ranks of home sellers, representing 53% of this group. If they used the equity from these sales, it could explain their ability to buy with cash.
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Millennials were similarly divided into an older group aged 35-44 and a younger one aged 26-34; together, they made up 29% of all home buyers, down from 38% the previous year.
Generation X, aged 45-49, accounted for 24% of buyers and had the highest median household income at $130,000.
Individuals aged 18-25 fell into Generation Z, representing 3% of the market. “Generation Z had the highest share of single-female home buyers at 30%, and like Millennials, they tend to purchase older homes compared to other age groups,” the report noted.
The oldest group of home buyers, aged 79-99, was classified as the Silent Generation.
Unlike the boomers, more than 90% of the younger generations had to use financing to buy their homes; one in four acknowledged help with the downpayment from family or friends.
First-time purchasers represented 24% of recent home buyers, down from 32% last year. Many were younger millennials. Older ones tended to be repeat buyers; in many cases, they could use equity from the sale of their former homes to buy bigger and newer homes with larger down payments than possible for the younger cohort members.
The report also noted that 17% of all homebuyers, including one in five generation X buyers, bought a home meant for multi-generational living, compared to 14% the prior year. “While Generation X are purchasing at the highest household incomes, they may still feel the squeeze as they aim to find a home that serves everyone,” said NAR’s deputy chief economist, Jessica Lautz. Two-thirds of Generation X buyers are married couples with dual incomes, and the group is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse, with 25% identifying as a race other than White/Caucasian, according to the report.
The report also gave some hints as to why boomers represent such a high percentage of home buyers. In many cases, they moved to be closer to family or friends, for retirement, or to downsize their homes. Younger boomers often selected a small town as their new destination, while older boomers tended to prefer suburbs or subdivisions. They favored slightly smaller homes with a median of 1,900 square feet. Boomers who were sellers typically downsized by 100 square feet. Among all age categories, boomers and the silent generation were the only groups with higher shares of sellers than buyers.
Among individuals over 60, 19% purchased a home in senior-related housing – a share that rose to 25% for those in the 70–78-year age group. Those who did so overwhelmingly favored detached single-family homes, including just over two-thirds of Boomers.
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