Median first-time buyer age was 40 last year, up from 31 in 2015; 1980s buyers were late 20s.
First-time buyers were 21% of all buyers in 2025, ↓from 32% a decade earlier.
By 2025, home prices were ↑60% vs 2019, while supply stayed stagnant, worsening affordability.
Jessica Lautz warned later buying may mean less time to build equity wealth and less ability to move often.
Experts say buying later can still help: fixed-rate mortgages limit cost ↑, and equity may fund downsizing after ~a decade.