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Are you a typical first-time homebuyer?

By Julie Tramonte

January 2025

If you’re in the market to buy your first home, you know what an emotional rollercoaster it can be. You can feel excited, confused, scared and hopeful – all within the span of a couple of hours!

We’re here to reassure you that it’s all normal and you’re not alone in this challenging market. Most first-time homebuyers are going through the exact same situations and self-doubt that you may be feeling. Maybe you: 

See how you compare to some of these first-time homebuyer stats we gleaned from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers report. 

The median age of a first-time homebuyer is 38 years old.

This is 3 years older than the median age of the previous year. Why is the age of first-time homebuyers going up? Blame it on a lower inventory of houses, increased home prices and/or high interest rates. In any case, it’s taking longer for first-time homebuyers to find and afford a house, so don’t fret if you haven’t found one yet. You’re not doing anything wrong; it’s just a difficult market. Keep at it!

Bottom line: You’re neither too young nor too old to buy a house. The right age is when you find a house you love and can afford.  

The typical down payment for a first-time homebuyer is 9%.

Contrary to the myth that you need a 20% down payment to buy a house, you can buy a home with as little as 3% down if you use private mortgage insurance (MI).

And if you think you’re one of the “few” first-time homebuyers who need to use MI so they can put down less than 20%, you should know that, according to a report published by U.S. Mortgage Insurers, almost 800,000 homebuyers leveraged private mortgage insurance in 2023 – with 64% of them being first-time homebuyers! If you use MI, you’ll be in good company: homeowners who were able to buy their home sooner than expected.

Bottom line: You may be financially prepared to buy a house sooner than you think. Try our Buy Now vs. Wait Calculator to run the numbers. 

50% of first-time homebuyers are married.

But the other half of homebuyers aren’t married couples. In fact, 24% of first-time homebuyers are single women (up 5% from the previous year!) and 11% are single men. Unmarried couples are also taking the homeownership plunge at a rate of 12%.

Bottom line: You don’t need to be married to buy a house.

34% of first-time homebuyers compromised on the price of their home.

In a market where a lack of inventory drives up home prices and competition, it comes as no surprise that many first-time homebuyers (even repeat buyers) are paying more for a house than they originally planned.

First-time homebuyers made other compromises when deciding to purchase their homes:

  • Size of the home (29%) 
  • Condition of the home (25%)
  • Style of the home (21%)
  • Distance from their job (17%)

Bottom line: There is no perfect home. It’s important to know what your must-haves are and what you are willing to let go of to literally get your foot in the door and begin building generational wealth.  

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Julie

Read more articles by Julie
Julie Tramonte is a writer who joined MGIC in 2018. Prior to flying the coop, she wrote for a mattress company, a manufacturer and advertising agencies. She’s obsessed with reading, traveling, tennis and rearranging furniture. Mother of 2 beautiful, adult daughters. Empty nester who recently downsized. Her guilty pleasures are doughnuts and the Kardashians (don’t tell anyone).
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