The median age of first-time homebuyers in the U.S. has climbed to a record of 40 as soaring prices and mortgage rates over the last few years delay homeownership for millions of Americans.
The age at which people purchase their first home has climbed rapidly since 2021, when the median was 33, according to a National Association of Realtors survey of transactions from July 2024 through June. In 1981, when the survey was first conducted, the median age was 29 years old.
NAR’s annual profile of buyers and sellers, released Tuesday, portrays a housing market in which younger, cash-strapped Americans are struggling to become homeowners while a wealthier, often older cohort is able to make bigger down payments and pay cash for houses.
The NAR warned that the loss of a decade of homeownership could cost Americans roughly $150,000 in equity on a typical starter home. The median price of an existing home currently stands at $415,200 — up more than 50% since 2019. At the same time, mortgage rates are roughly twice as high as they were in late 2021.
Starbucks strike planned
Starbucks’ union members have voted to strike at the company’s U.S. stores including some in Massachusetts next week unless it finalizes a contract agreement, the union said Wednesday.
The strike would begin on Nov. 13, which is the day Starbucks plans to distribute free, reusable red cups. Red Cup Day, a Starbucks tradition since 2018, is typically one of the company’s busiest.
Starbucks Workers United, the union organizing baristas, didn’t say how many stores would be impacted. But it said workers in at least 25 cities planned to strike and more locations could be added if the union doesn’t see “substantial progress” toward finalizing a contract.
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