A record number of Americans in 2024 used an inheritance to help finance a down payment on their first home.

That’s according to a new survey by the National Association of Realtors, which found that Americans who bought homes for the first time between July 2023 and June 2024 were older and wealthier than in previous years. The report underscores the increasingly intense struggle many Americans face when buying a home, as prices have soared to near-record levels and mortgage rates have remained stubbornly high.

The survey found that first-time homebuyers had a median household income of $97,000, up from $95,900 last year, and the average age of first-time buyers rose to 38, a new record. A generation ago, the typical first-time home buyer was in their 20s, according to the report.

“We’re seeing a dichotomy in this housing market where those first-time homebuyers aren’t just your traditional first-timers, like school teachers or first responders, who are really entering the market,” said NAR Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz. “The people who can get in are really a select few.”

So few, in fact, that in the last year, first-time buyers fell to just 24 percent of all home buyers — the lowest share since the NAR began collecting data in 1981.

According to the report, a quarter of first-time buyers used a gift or loan from a relative or friend to help finance their home purchase. That’s a slightly higher share than in 2022 and 2023, but lower than the pre-pandemic average of 31% between 1997 and 2019. A record 7% of first-time buyers used their inheritance to to afford an advance.

Lautz estimated that the decline in first-time buyers using their family’s help to buy a home could be related to the fact that typical first-time buyers are getting older and likely have their own money to make the purchase.

“Everybody’s situation is different, but that’s one of the things that seems to work together. This appears to be decreasing at the same time as the average age is increasing,” she said.

The divide between the haves and the have-nots

The NAR report also highlights the sharp disparity between Americans who owned a home during the recent boom in home values ​​and those looking to buy one.

Like first-time buyers, the typical repeat buyer has aged, with their average age rising to 61 from 58 last year. The median household income of repeat buyers rose to $114,300 from $111,700 in the past year, also according to the NAR.

First-time home buyers may have trouble competing with repeat buyers, who may have sold an existing home to buy a new one. Repeat buyers were able to enter the housing market with significantly higher down payments (median 23%) than first-time homebuyers (median 9%). Thirty-one percent of repeat buyers paid full cash for their homes.

“The report shows both America’s struggle to secure affordable housing and people making housing transactions with record levels of housing wealth,” Lautz said.

Increased competition in the housing market meant that home sellers had more power to set their price. According to the report, homes that were on the market for four weeks or less typically received 100 percent of the asking price. Twenty-three percent of buyers paid more than the asking price for their home.

Home affordability issues have led some Americans to try new living situations. Multigenerational living has grown in popularity, reaching a record 17 percent in the past year, according to the survey. Thirty-six percent of homebuyers purchasing a multigenerational home cited cost savings, while 21% said the purchase was made because children over the age of 18 were moving in.

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