Study of Buyer Characteristics

A new study of recent homebuyers offers key demographic characteristics including age, income level, median home price, and financing trends.

Of all buyers, those trading up had a 60 percent share, and first-timers had a 37 percent share, according to the National Association of Home Builders' study. The typical homebuyer is 40 years old, and the median household income was $86,623. The median price of homes purchased within the period studied was $228,389, and the median square footage was 1,890 sf.

A total of 8.8 million households bought homes in the two years preceding the release of the 2017 American Housing Survey (AHS). For its February Special Study, the National Association of Home Builders used the 2017 AHS to analyze trends among recent home buyers. The AHS is a nationally representative survey of residential structures in the US and of the households that occupy them (sponsored by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and conducted by the Census Bureau biennially in odd-numbered years).

Read more