Meet Suzie, The 42-Year-Old Millennial Homebuyer Miracle
Suzie Payne, once resigned at 40 in Portland—where home prices mock mere mortals—lost her job, watched mortgage rates crash in 2020 (but she couldn’t afford weekend house stalking), then fled to Philadelphia in 2021. There, rowhomes still linger under $210k (a bargain compared to her PTSD-inducing Portland market). Suzie aced first-time buyer classes, nabbed a better-than-expected loan, and snagged a house at 42, now officially the average rookie buyer's age. The National Association of Realtors confirms the median first-timer age skyrocketed from a cute 29 in 1981 to an eye-watering 40 in 2024-25! Meanwhile, repeat buyers channel their inner Scrooge McDuck, splashing cash—26% going full cash, no mortgage, at median age 62—shutting Gen Z out to scream in their tiny subsidized apartments. Agents report millennials swimming in student debt and rent hikes, family help vanishing, and starter homes transforming into mythical beasts. Welcome to the age of the geriatric homebuyer shuffle, aka 'homeownership: now with interest and aging!'
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The average first-time homebuyer is 40 now, because nothing says 'midlife crisis' like bidding war drama and crushing student debt while your parents buy their third second home in the Hamptons. Welcome to real estate for the stubbornly hopeful middle-aged.
So turns out millennials waited so long to buy homes, the NAR now calls first-time buyers 'geriatric eviction survivors.' Next up: PTA meetings on reverse mortgages!
Buying a starter home used to happen in your 20s. Now it’s a luxury senior citizen activity. Rent those foldable walkers! Your porch swing awaits.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 11/5/2025 | Author: James Rodriguez
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