Real Estate Trends 2023: Homes Purchased

No matter what your age, if you bought a home, it was overwhelmingly single family and detached. No other house styles were even close. From a high of 88% of Older Millennials (age 33-42) to a not-so-low 69% of Gen Z (age 18-23), the single-family home was the dwelling of choice. You could argue that there are more single-family homes than any other type of housing, so of course that’s what people bought. The important takeaway is that it’s the top choice for all ages. 

It’s the configuration for everyone: The median year built (1986), square footage (1,800) and number of bedrooms (3), and bathrooms (2). There are variations, of course. Older Baby Boomers (68-76 years old) bought the newest homes (1996) while Gen Z bought the oldest (1976). Gen X (43-57 years old) bought the biggest houses (1,970 square feet) while Gen Z bought the smallest (1,480 square feet). The Gen X peak of 1,970 drops to 1,800 for Younger Boomers (58-67 years old), when downsizing starts to factor into home purchase decisions. 

One thing the generations agreed on with little variation was the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in their floor plan. 3/2 was the median across all ages. Common sense says people can only buy what’s on the market, so if the housing supply was dominated by 3/2s, that’s what sold. 

The great divide for homebuyers was new construction vs. previously owned. The factors driving those decisions were primarily personal, with one big market-influenced exception. The first thing that sticks out is this: 41% of all new homebuyers wanted to avoid renovations, plumbing, or electrical problems. Older Millennials REALLY didn’t want to deal with these issues! 54% percent of them listed that as a reason to buy new. 

The second most popular reason to buy new was a lack of inventory of previously owned homes. That’s a continuing reality of the real estate market. Contributing factors include the COVID-19 pandemic, which created a work from home culture and made moving difficult, low interest rates and their subsequent rise, which made people less interested in moving, and an increase in property investors, who buy to rent. 

Price and better overall value were the drivers for those who preferred to buy previously owned homes. 31% of all buyers mentioned price, with Gen Z buyers coming in as the most price-conscious at 51%. Price concerns dropped in older buyers, while overall value became more important. 

When we buy a home, we plan to stay a long time. 61% of Younger Boomers expected to be in their homes for 16 or more years. Interestingly, 52% of Gen Z said the same thing, as did 47% of the Silent Generation (77-97 years old). Younger Millennials (24-32 years old) expected they’d move sooner, with only 38% saying they’d stay 16 or more years. 

Almost all buyers agreed that their top environmental concern was heating and cooling costs. Windows, doors, and siding came in second. Only Gen Z reversed that trend, with windows, doors, and siding listed as more important than heating and cooling costs. The two are clearly related, since good quality materials will result in energy efficiency. Maybe Gen Z is just planning ahead for the many years they expect to live in the homes they bought? 

Whether you want to buy a single-family detached home or a condo in a high rise, we have a loan for you. Contact us. 

The National Association of Realtors^® 2023 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report was researched and written by the National Association of Realtors^® Research Group. It’s based on data gathered from primary residence homebuyers who purchased their properties between July 2021 and June 2022. For more information or to see the full report.