The $119,000 Early Buy Advantage: Realtor.com® Report Finds Home Purchase Timing Reshapes Generational Wealth

Buying a home by age 30 associated with 22.5% higher net worth by midlife; Realtor.com^® launches "HomeGrown" advocacy campaign to address widening affordability gap

AUSTIN, Texas, March 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The path to the American Dream is increasingly defined by timing, according to the newly released Generational Wealth Report from Realtor.com^®. The report reveals a stark "wealth multiplier" for those able to enter the market early: households that purchase their first home by age 30 see a 22.5% higher net worth—an average of $119,000 more—by age 50 compared to those who wait until their 40s.

However, achieving that early entry has become significantly more difficult. In 1990, the median age of a first-time homebuyer was 30; by 2025, that age had climbed to 40. This decade-long delay is driven by home prices rising nearly twice as fast as incomes, causing the typical time required to save for a down payment to balloon from approximately three years in 1990 to nearly 10 years in 2025.

"Homeownership has long been a cornerstone of financial security in the U.S., and our analysis shows that laying that foundation sooner can have big impacts," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com^®. "Earlier entry into the market doesn't just provide a place to live; it catalyzes broader balance-sheet growth. By gaining more years for appreciation and mortgage paydown, early homebuyers build a foundation of wealth that supports opportunities that cascade into the next generation. The widening affordability gap isn't just a hurdle for today's buyers, it's a structural challenge to economic mobility that compounds over decades."

Introducing HomeGrown: A New Advocacy Campaign from Realtor.com^®

Launched at the Realtor.com^®  SXSW activation, Realtor.com^® today announced the start of HomeGrown, a national advocacy campaign dedicated to leading a conversation around the intersection of generational wealth and homeownership and the importance of keeping the path to homeownership open for future generations. As we face a growing housing shortage of 4 million homes, HomeGrown focuses on addressing the barriers that have pushed the U.S. homeownership rate down to 65.7%, a significant drop from the pandemic-era high.

"Homeownership has long been one of the most reliable ways families build and pass on wealth, shaping a family's financial security for decades to come. Yet today, too many young people are stuck on the sidelines, because buying a home has become increasingly out of reach," said Damian Eales, chief executive officer, Realtor.com^®. "With HomeGrown, we're shining a light on what's at stake if we don't keep the path to ownership open, not just for today's buyers, but for their children and grandchildren. We aim to spark a national conversation – and ultimately national action – to keep the dream of homeownership, and the wealth it creates, open to all."

The Benefit of Buying Early

When it comes to creating long-term wealth, timing matters. When households are able to buy earlier, they gain more years for housing wealth to accumulate through appreciation and mortgage paydown, shaping financial outcomes not only for themselves but for the next generation. Differences that begin as a few years at the point of entry can compound into meaningful gaps in long-term wealth.

Those who buy at age 30 have 22.5% greater net worth at age 50 compared to those who buy in their mid-to-late 40s, after controlling for income, education, and marital status. These differences reflect the cumulative effects of a longer accumulation window for early buyers. Earlier entry into homeownership provides more years for housing wealth to grow through appreciation and mortgage amortization, while also offering a degree of financial stability that supports saving and investment elsewhere on the balance sheet.

The Intergenerational Momentum of Housing

Housing wealth is often "sticky," creating a self-reinforcing cycle of opportunity. The Realtor.com^® analysis shows that children raised in homeowner households are 18.4 percentage points more likely to become homeowners themselves by age 35. Furthermore, homeowners are 1.3 times more likely than renters to anticipate leaving assets to the next generation. Family financial support can meaningfully accelerate the transition into homeownership. Households that receive an inheritance of at least $5,000 are about 2.5 times as likely to become homeowners as those who do not.

This momentum, however, is not evenly distributed. Systemic barriers continue to result in persistent disparities; in 2025, the homeownership rate for White households stood at 75.1%, compared to just 44.2% for Black households and 48.7% for Hispanic households. Access to family assistance has become a critical bridge, with one in five first-time buyers reporting they received a gift or loan from family or friends to cross the threshold into ownership, according to data from the National Association of REALTORS®.

A Narrowing Window for Wealth

The "forced savings" mechanism of a mortgage acts as a unique wealth-building tool. Across every Survey of Consumer Finances since 1989, homeowners have maintained a median net worth 30 to 50 times higher than renters. When entry is delayed by 10 years, as seen in the shift from 1990 to 2025, buyers lose a decade of compound growth, significantly weakening their overall financial trajectory by midlife.

Meaningfully closing the housing supply gap and supporting sustainable credit access are essential to shortening the timeline for first-time buyers. As the HomeGrown campaign gains momentum, Realtor.com® remains committed to spotlighting how keeping the path to homeownership open has lasting consequences for economic mobility across generations.

Looking Forward, Policies That Expand Supply Are Critical

Looking ahead, policies that expand housing supply, support entry-level construction, improve access to sustainable credit, and reduce barriers for first-time buyers can help more households move from aspiration to access. Such policies are not only about today's buyers, but about the foundations laid for future generations. Not every household can buy immediately, but keeping the path to homeownership open, and shortening it where possible, has lasting consequences. When households can take that first step sooner, the benefits extend well beyond the moment of purchase, shaping economic mobility for generations to come.

"Homeownership remains a cornerstone of the American Dream," said Hale.  "Buying a home not only provides stability and a place to call one's own, but it also serves as one of the most reliable paths to building wealth in the United States. Over time, accumulated housing wealth can shape not only a household's financial security, but also the opportunities available to the next generation, affecting who can buy, when they can buy, and how much wealth they have time to build."

Methodology

This analysis uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), drawing on the harmonized PSID-SHELF wealth files, which provide consistent measures of household balance sheets, housing tenure, and demographics through 2021. All monetary values are expressed in real 2023 dollars. The adult sample includes individuals born between 1956 and 1971 who are observed around age 30 (closest interview between ages 28–32) and again around age 50 (closest interview between ages 48–52). To ensure consistent attribution of housing and wealth, the analysis is restricted to members of the reference couple (the household reference person or spouse/partner), as housing and wealth are measured at the family-unit level.

Homeownership timing is measured as the cumulative number of calendar years spent renting after age 30, calculated using observed gaps between PSID interviews. Individuals are grouped into delay bins based on post-30 rental exposure, allowing comparison of wealth trajectories across different ownership timing paths.

The primary outcome is net worth growth from age 30 to age 50. Home equity growth over the same period is analyzed separately to distinguish housing from non-housing wealth dynamics. Models are estimated using survey-weighted regressions that account for the PSID's complex sample design and control for baseline income, education, and marital status measured around age 30.

To examine intergenerational patterns, children are linked to parents using PSID household and relationship identifiers. Childhood exposure to homeownership is defined as the share of years spent in an owner-occupied household between ages 0 and 17. Children are then followed into adulthood to assess homeownership by age 35 and age at first purchase, controlling for their own socioeconomic characteristics.

Results are descriptive and associational but consistent with prior research on homeownership timing, wealth accumulation, and intergenerational transmission.

Generations defined with birth years as follows: Greatest Generation (1901-1927), Silent Generation (1928-1945), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1980), Millennials (1981-1996), Gen Z (1997-2007)

About Realtor.com^®

Realtor.com^® pioneered online real estate and has been at the forefront for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights, professional guidance and powerful tools to help them find their perfect home. Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com^® is a valued partner, delivering consumer connections and a robust suite of marketing tools to support business growth. Realtor.com^® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc.

Media contact: Mallory Micetich, [email protected]

SOURCE Realtor.com