This year, the average age for a repeat buyer was 58, according to data released Monday from the National Association of Realtors
1965 is generally considered to be the first year of Gen X but putting that in the headline won’t get as many clicks
Right, but the typical buyer isn’t 58. It’s implied in the article that it’s bimodal, with lots of older (Boomer) buyers skewing the median very high.
Everyone is a boomer when you need to insult their generation. Or it seems like it now days.
This is an American-specific article, but I actually think this might be uniquely American. As from the article, people in the US with 20+ year mortgages locked in at low rates will not want to sell to buy a new home. So, that leaves new buyers who have no choice but to accept higher rates and older buyers who are unaffected by rates since they’re paying with cash.
In Canada, the maximum term on mortgages is 5 years, so there’s a rolling incentive to sell as people need to renegotiate their mortgages at higher rates. I expect a lot more turnover is happening in Canada due to rate increases that wouldn’t be happening with the longer fixed-rate mortgages available in the US.
I’m surprised stateside lenders aren’t trying widespread adjustable rate mortgages again. I guess they don’t need to screw over first-time buyers anymore since they’re no longer a sizeable proportion.
Boomers who havent yet retired being at peak earning while also likely being empty nesters, and retired or not, having a home to sell to put towards your next one leaves you at a huge advantage.
It’s also a rough market out there for buyers with bidding wars(which makes it sound like an auction but it’s more put your best offer down and hope someone who’s frustrated with the market and has deep pockets doesnt jump in and overpay with a ludicrous bid). Prices are high and while we Millennials are finally getting there as a generation income wise, we’re still on average behind our parents.
As the population ages, the younger generations get smaller and the older generations get proportionally larger. More and more money will need to go to paying for retirees life styles, and they expect retirement life styles like those of their parents who had the benefit of a working age population multiple times the size of the retired population.
In the quest for this, often times not are that this is the effect they are seeking, they have to take control of ever more of the most message resources to force younger generations to do more work for less pay to support them.
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This year, the median age for a repeat buyer — someone who has bought a home before — was 58, according to data released Monday by the National Association of Realtors.
“We are still talking about an incredibly difficult market for first-time buyers to enter, even if there’s slightly less competition,” said Jessica Lautz, the deputy chief economist at NAR.
Jennifer Dodds sees that dynamic in the Houston area, where the median sale price has jumped from around $275,000 to $325,000 in the past three years.
But Dodds said there still can be a clear advantage for older buyers who have built up their wealth and income over decades and routinely emerge at the top of the pack.
They didn’t pay all cash but were able to show that selling their home would yield plenty of money in case their bank financing fell through.
That often leaves seniors and aspiring first-time buyers competing for similar types of homes — just a couple of bedrooms, not too much upkeep.
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