First-time buyer share edges higher as cash deals reach an all-time high

Homeownership in America is not vanishing; it is being reached later in life and increasingly with the help of existing wealth.

The proportion of first-time home buyers rose to 22% in the year ending in June, a slight rebound from the previous year’s record low of 21%, but major barriers to entering the market have largely stayed the same, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2026 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

The survey, based on responses from 7,125 buyers of primary residences, found that the median age of a first-time buyer remained at 40, a record high. It also showed that 10% of first-time buyers paid cash, another record, underscoring how homeownership is being reshaped.

“Affordability remains the biggest hurdle for first-time buyers,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research.

“The share of first-time buyers is still about half the historical norm of 40% seen before 2008, and those saving on their own continue to face high rent, student debt, and a shortage of homes they can afford.”

Wealth transfers are changing the path to ownership

Among first-time buyers paying all cash, 28% used an inheritance to help finance the purchase, compared with 9% of those who took out a mortgage.

The median age of first-time all-cash buyers was 54, versus 38 for financed buyers, a difference driven more by timing than by preference.

“The housing market is beginning to see a generational transfer of wealth,” Lautz said.

“It’s not yet a tsunami, but it is changing who can buy a first home and when. Because people are living longer, the generation receiving that wealth is no longer young adults. Many are reaching middle age before they can buy their first home.”

Personal savings remained the leading source of down payment money at 62%, followed by financial assets such as 401(k)s and stocks at 30%, and gifts or loans from family at 25%.

Inheritance made up 10% of down payment sources, the highest level on record. The median down payment for first-time buyers was 9%.

For brokers, the figures point to a first-time buyer base that is older and more reliant on money beyond their own savings.

Matt Gouge, mortgage broker and founding partner at UMortgage, said in comments to Mortgage Professional America earlier this year that first-time buyers need to be flexible: “Buyers, especially first-time homebuyers, have to be a little bit more flexible. They have to start thinking about housing, especially their first house, as a stepping stone, not a forever home.”

NAR 2026 first-time home buyer key statistics

Mortgage Professional America

NAR 2026 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

Market share & age

Cash purchases

Down payment

Inheritance & wealth transfer

Source: National Association of Realtors® 2026 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Survey covers primary residence transactions. Margin of error ±1.16pp at 95% confidence. Record figures reflect the highest levels recorded since NAR began tracking in 1981.

Agents and brokers remain central

Agent use also strengthened across the survey.

About 90% of buyers used an agent or broker, rising to 93% among buyers of previously owned homes, while 92% of sellers used an agent, an all-time high.

Some 88% of buyers said they would use or recommend their agent again.

As Miki Adams, president of CBC Mortgage Agency, told MPA: “Having access to and understanding different tools, like down payment assistance programs and other low-down-payment programs, allows brokers to responsibly bridge the gap between income and savings.”

For professionals watching how long first-time buyers need to save for a down payment in the current market, those tools are becoming increasingly important.

Repeat buyers, who accounted for 78% of all purchases, reached a record median age of 62 and a median household income of $127,000, widening the equity gap that continues to shape the first-time buyer experience across the US.