Just One-Third of 30-Year-Olds Own a Home Today—as Adults Delay Major Life Milestones

Just 33% of 30-year-olds in the U.S. own a home today, down from 47% in 1984, as the typical age of first-time homebuyers continues to rise.

That’s according to a new report from John Burns Research and Consulting, which examines how delayed life milestones, as well as declining birth and marriage rates, are affecting the housing market.

“Changes in family sizes and birth rates are reshaping housing demand in the U.S., with long-term effects for residential builders, developers, and investors,” writes JBREC Vice President of Demographics Research Eric Finnigan in the report. 

The analysis highlights the fact that the typical first-time homebuyer is now a record-high 38 years old, up from 33 in 2020, and an average of 31 between 1993 and 2018.

As a result, 72% of the renters in the country are now aged 30 or older, the highest share on record, according to JBREC.

“Shifting cultural norms, limited housing options, and the growing cost of homeownership mean that fewer would-be first-time homebuyers are opting to venture into homeownership,” says Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones. 

Homeownership is not the only life milestone that is increasingly delayed. Among 30-year-olds today, just 70% live on their own and 48% have been married, down from 83% and 78% respectively in 1984.

Finnigan notes in the report that those shifts didn’t start recently. Every generation following the baby boomers has achieved those milestones later in life than the previous one.

However, as far as delayed attainment of homeownership is concerned, surging home prices in recent years appear to have played a role in accelerating the trend, as evidenced by the sharp increase in median first-time buyer age from 2020 to 2024.

“The run-up in home prices during the [COVID-19] pandemic and climbing mortgage rates in the years following only built on the challenges presented by the decade-plus housing supply gap,” says Jones.

Home affordability crisis is a key factor in delayed milestones

A recent report from the Realtor.com economic research team found that the nation has a housing supply gap of nearly 4 million homes. And the shortage of affordable housing options might play a role in delaying other life milestones for young adults. 

The same Realtor.com study estimated that last year, at least 1.6 million new Gen Z and millennial households should have formed, but didn’t. 

In fact, household formation hit a nine-year low in 2024, as many young adults continued living with roommates and parents instead of striking out on their own.

“Limited housing options have kept upward pressure on prices, pushing many households to continue renting instead of taking on homeownership,” says Jones. “The resulting cultural shift away from homeownership has also pushed the median age of first-time buyers higher.”

In recent years, high home prices and elevated mortgage rates have combined to push the housing market into its least affordable territory in at least 40 years, after factoring in gains in income.

Young homebuyers have lost ground as a result. Last year, first-time homebuyers accounted for just 24% of all buyers, down from 32% the previous year, and the lowest share on record dating to 1981, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Although cultural factors are likely also at play, it might be the case that barriers to homeownership have contributed to declining marriage and birth rates, if young couples put off those milestones until they can afford a house.

The John Burns report highlights the fact that birth rates in the U.S. have plunged to the same level as 1983, despite the total population being larger now by 108 million people.

Just 3.6 million babies were born in 2024, down from the peak of 4.3 million in 2007, marking a 40-year low.

The report notes that fewer women today choose to have children, and those who do have their first child later in life, and have fewer children overall, when compared with the baby boomer generation.

Keith Griffith is a journalist at Realtor.com covering housing policy, real estate news, and trends in the residential market. Previously, his work has appeared in Business Insider, The Street, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Post, and Daily Mail, among other publications. He has a master's degree in economic and business journalism from Columbia University.