Those of us in real estate have certainly noticed how fast the market has been this past year. Despite record-low inventory, more homes are being sold and quicker than any time in recent memory.
But who’s buying these homes? Everyone’s reasons for buying a home are different, but thanks to extensive research conducted by the National Association of Realtors, some nationwide trends have started to become apparent.
NAR’s most recent study on homebuyers” characteristics, the 2021 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, often shows surprising housing trends, and this year kept that tradition.
This report provides insights into differences and similarities across generations of homebuyers and sellers. The homebuyer and seller data are taken from the annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, which followed homebuyers between July 2019 and June 2020.
It’s important to note that while the report captured some data on homebuying during the pandemic, it provides only part of the picture.
Nationally, buyers 22-30 years of age (younger millennials) and buyers 31-40 years of age (older millennials) continue to make up the largest share of homebuyers at 37%, with older millennials at 23% and younger millennials at 14%.
It’s worth noting that millennials have been the largest share of buyers since the 2014 report.
Buyers aged 41-55 (Gen Xers) made up 24% of recent homebuyers. This group continues to be the highest earning homebuyers with a median income of $113,300 in 2019.
For the report, buyers 56-65 (younger baby boomers) and buyers 66-74 (older baby boomers) were broken into two separate categories as they have differing demographics and buying behaviors.
Younger baby boomers consisted of 18% of recent buyers and older baby boomers consisted of 14% of recent buyers.
Buyers aged 75-95 (the silent generation) represented the smallest share of buyers at 5%.
There’s one other important metric to note: All generations of buyers continued to utilize a real estate agent or broker as their top resource to help them buy and sell their home. In today’s extremely competitive market, utilizing a Realtor to help with a housing transaction is more important than ever.
Regardless of your circumstances, working with a Realtor can help ensure that all aspects of your particular housing situation are addressed. Realtors work with our community every day. That’s Who We R.
Greater Chattanooga Realtors is The Voice of Real Estate in Greater Chattanooga. A regional organization with more than 2,400 members, Greater Chattanooga Realtors is one of 300 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors. Greater Chattanooga Realtors services Hamilton and Sequatchie counties in southeast Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in northwest Georgia. For more information, visit www.gcar.net or call 423 698-8001.