The American Dream of Homeownership Has Aged (Literally)

A new report from the National Association of Realtors shows the median age of U.S. homebuyers has climbed to 56 in 2024, the oldest on record — up from 31 in 1981. For first-time buyers, the median age has risen from 29 to 38, reflecting how much harder it’s become to buy a home early in life. This 25-year jump marks a fundamental shift in affordability and access. Median home prices have surged to roughly $420,000, while the median household income is about $79,000 — far below the $110,000+ estimated to comfortably afford that home at current mortgage rates of 7–8%. In 1981, a typical home cost about three times the average household income; today, it’s closer to five-and-a-half times, and much higher in many metro areas.

Put another way, the math of homeownership has become punishing. In 1981, a median home could be purchased with about 3,000 hours of combined full-time work at the prevailing average wage (roughly $8 per hour in today’s dollars). Today, at a median wage of $29 per hour, that same home requires nearly 14,500 hours of work — the equivalent of two adults working full-time for almost four years before taxes, just to cover the purchase price. Even households with two earners must now devote a vastly greater share of their working lives to afford ownership, leaving less margin for savings, childcare, or emergencies.

Meanwhile, Baby Boomers, who own around 40% of all U.S. homes, are staying put longer, restricting supply and keeping prices elevated. Younger generations, squeezed by student debt, rent inflation, and flat real wages, are buying later — or not at all. The result is a market increasingly dominated by older, wealthier buyers, while homeownership has shifted from a young-family milestone to a midlife luxury. Experts warn that the U.S. now faces not just a housing shortage, but a generational affordability crisis — where time itself has become the new down payment.

That same crisis is reshaping family life. Couples once able to buy a starter home in their 20s are now spending their prime childbearing years just trying to qualify for a mortgage. The average first-time buyer at 38 now overlaps almost exactly with the age when fertility begins to decline, meaning many families delay having children until after homeownership — if they ever get there at all. With median mortgage payments exceeding $2,800 per month and infant childcare costs topping $1,200–$1,600 monthly, the combined expense easily consumes two-thirds of take-home pay for a median-income household. In the 1980s, those same essentials took about a third.

Worse still, these couples enter this stage already overburdened with debt from college loans, credit cards, and the rising costs of simply surviving as renters. Rent prices have climbed more than 30% since 2020, and in many cities now exceed the cost of a mortgage — yet renters can’t save because they’re paying the same price for something that builds no equity. The average millennial renter spends 45–50% of income on housing, making it nearly impossible to accumulate the $40,000–$80,000 down payment typically required for a first home. The result is a vicious cycle: high rents prevent saving, lack of savings prevents buying, and delayed buying extends financial insecurity well into midlife.

Even for those who finally cross the threshold, the reward is bittersweet. Buying a first home at 38 means holding a 30- or 40-year mortgage well into their 60s or 70s, overlapping with years when they should be preparing for retirement — not still paying for the roof over their heads. Many will finish their mortgage payments around the same time they become eligible for Social Security. Instead of homeownership creating stability for the next generation, it’s now often a final act of endurance in a lifetime of debt.

The implications go beyond economics — they reshape the entire social fabric. When young adults can’t afford homes, they postpone marriage, have fewer children, and feel less anchored to their communities. Stable housing is the foundation of family life, yet that foundation is crumbling beneath the weight of debt and delay. What used to be the first step toward building a future has become the last prize in a race most never finish. The American home — once a symbol of opportunity — has quietly become a measure of survival.