Millennials comprise 43% of home buyers—the highest of any generation in the current market. Their numbers in real estate are growing, as last year, they comprised 37% of buyers.
Millennials—consumers between the ages of 23 to 41 years old—are the most likely generation to use the internet to find a home they ultimately purchase as well as the most likely to use a real estate agent, according to a new study released by the National Association of REALTORS®, The 2022 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report.
“Some young adults have used the pandemic to their financial advantage by paying down debt and cutting the cost of rent by moving in with the family,” says Jessica Lautz, NAR’s vice president of demographics and behavioral insights. “They are now jumping headfirst into homeownership. While young buyers use new tech tools, they also use real estate agents at higher rates than other buyers to help find the right home and negotiate the terms of the transaction.”
While millennials may be in the housing market in higher numbers, Generation X is buying the most expensive homes. Buyers in that group purchased homes at a median price of $320,000. That was higher than younger millennials (between the ages of 23 to 31), at a median of $250,000, and older millennials (ages 32 to 41), at $315,000. Baby boomers between the ages of 57 to 66 purchased homes at a median price of $301,000, while those between the ages of 67 to 75 purchased homes at a median of $295,000, according to NAR’s data.
Regardless of age, buyers from all generations are relying on real estate professionals for help. The most common reasons for using an agent were wanting help in finding the right home to purchase and negotiating the terms of the sale and the price. Younger millennials (between the ages of 23 to 31) and members of the silent generation (those between the ages of 76 and 96) were the most likely to say they also want an agent to help them with the paperwork.
Read more from NAR’s The 2022 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report.
Source: “2022 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends,” National Association of REALTORS® (March 2022)
