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FILE-A For Sale sign is displayed outside a home for sale in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

First-time home buyers are now the oldest in history, according to a recent survey.

The median age of 38 for new homebuyers is up from 35 last year and represents an increase from the 1980s, when first-time homebuyers were in their late 20s, the National Association’s annual survey of Real Estate Agents (NAR) on buyers and noted sellers.

According to the survey, the ages of first-time and repeat homebuyers have reached an all-time high, with the median age of buyers peaking at 56, up from 49 in 2023. The age of repeat buyers also rose to 61 , i.e. from 58 last year.

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Data for the survey included transactions between July 2023 and June 2024 and provided insight into home buying and selling behaviour. Statistics in the report also found that the number of first-time home buyers fell to a record low.

Separately, the number of first-time home buyers in 2024 fell to 24% between July 2023 and June 2024, down from 32% the previous year. NAR noted in their report that this represented the lowest share of homebuyers since the organization began collecting data in 1981.

NAR Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz says FOX Business that survey shows how housing shortages and housing affordability have affected young consumers in the market for a home.

Lautz also explained to him FOX Business that would-be first-time buyers “likely have had a tough time, too, even if they factor in saving for a down payment with inflation, rental costs, student debt and other loan payments.”