Average age of NYC homeowner jumps to stunning new high — as American dream more out of reach for young people

The median age of New York City-area homeowners has jumped to a stunning new high as the housing affordability crisis keeps young buyers locked out of the market, according to a new report.

As of 2024, the median age of a homeowner in the area covering NYC, Newark and Jersey City was 58.8 years old — just a few years shy of Social Security eligibility, the National Association of Realtors, or NAR, said earlier this month.

The figure also marked a 4.4-year increase from the median age of homeowners in the Big Apple and its neighbors in 2010.

The homeownership rate barely budged over the same period – slipping from 52.7% in 2010 to 51.3% in 2024, according to the data.

“People keep talking about, ‘The housing market is frozen,’” Vlora Sejdi, former president of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, told The Post. “It’s not frozen. It’s aging.”

While the homeownership rate hasn’t shifted much on paper, the profile of the typical homeowner has drastically changed. That’s because baby boomers are holding onto their property for longer while younger households are delaying ownership until later in life.

Homeownership rates for those aged 25 to 34, 34 to 55, 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 have all seen declines, while the only group that has held strong is households 65 and older, NAR found.

Nationwide, the median first-time homebuyer is officially 40 years old, according to NAR data released last year – up from 38 years old in 2024 and 33 in 2020.

“Affordability is definitely a huge hurdle,” Sejdi told The Post, nodding to high interest rates, stubborn inflation and a lack of starter homes in New York City and beyond. “Saving up for a down payment while paying high rent really isn’t easy.

“You add that to the other costs of living that have increased exponentially and the fact that wages really haven’t, it makes it a much higher barrier than it was for their parents or their parents before them to be able to afford that first home,” she added.

The cost of homeownership has soared out of reach for many Americans, with the average family needing to earn $110,000 a year to own a typical home, according to real estate broker Redfin – about 29% higher than what the median household actually makes.

The figure marks a huge downturn compared to 2010, when first-time buyers earned about 15% more than what was needed to afford an average starter home, the NAR said.

“There’s really not much housing availability at all,” Sejdi said. “Over the last decade, a lot of what’s been built has been larger and more expensive, so the lack of starter homes in addition to the lack of funds make it really difficult for a first-time home buyer, which is why we’re seeing them start the process later.”

Housing advocates have argued that an inadequate supply of affordable housing and low construction rates are to blame for young people’s inability to snap up homes, especially as prices on consumer goods remain stubbornly high.

President Trump has unveiled several initiatives aimed at addressing the housing affordability crisis, including a $200 billion mortgage bond-buying spree and a homebuying ban on large investors.

Economists have warned that the war on Iran – which has sent oil prices soaring above $100 per barrel – could potentially heat up inflation and spark the toxic mix of high prices and flat growth known as stagflation.

Another factor is that aging homeowners simply aren’t moving out of their family properties — despite hope that there would be a “silver wave” or “silver tsunami” across the US, with baby boomers retiring and selling off their homes, according to Sejdi.

One reason, she argued, is that the capital gains tax exemption is outdated. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 allows single filers to exclude from taxes up to $250,000 of capital gain on a home sale, and up to $500,000 for married couples filing jointly.

Housing advocates have urged policymakers to update the tax exclusion, raising the limits for a single filer as high as $500,000 and up to $1 million for a couple.

“If I buy something from 1997, it’s considered vintage, and yet we’re using those numbers to determine what a capital gains is, which is ridiculous,” she said.

Many older homeowners who locked in their properties at low interest rates are also unwilling to sell and take on higher 30-year fixed mortgage rates, which hit 6.11% last week, according to Freddie Mac.

“It’s really hard to convince somebody with a 3% interest rate to trade that for a 7% interest rate,” Sejdi told The Post. 

Legislation for a first-time homebuyer down payment savings program, similar to tax-exempt accounts like 529s, could help encourage younger buyers to enter the market, she said.

In the meantime, the housing affordability crisis will continue pushing younger residents out of New York City and other bustling metro areas, she predicted.

“They end up going north to the suburbs, they go to Jersey, they go to Connecticut, they go wherever they can still access the city but can actually purchase real estate,” Sejdi said.

“It is part of the American dream to be able to own your own property or home, and when you’re paying rent what you would be paying for a mortgage, it just makes sense to do that.” 

Homeowners in other metro areas across the country are also aging.

The typical homeowner in the Los Angeles area hit 59 years old in 2024 – up from 54 in 2010, according to NAR data.

In Boston, the median age of homeowners jumped to 57 in 2024, up from 53 in 2010.