Feel like buying a home is tougher than ever? You’re not the only one.
Homebuyers are older than ever, make more money, and are less likely to have young children at home, based on historical data on homebuyers from the National Association of Realtors, or NAR.
These trends have largely resulted from declining housing affordability over the past several decades, Brandi Snowden, NAR’s director of member and consumer survey research, told Business Insider.
“We’re seeing that affordability is becoming increasingly difficult, with higher incomes needed to enter the market,” Snowden said. “Buyers are also facing limited inventory, so they often need to search longer to find the right home.”
Here are nine charts that show how the state of US homeownership has changed over the last several decades.
Data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development showed the median sales price of new houses in the US surged during the pandemic, reaching a peak of $442,600 in the …