People are Buying Homes Later in Life

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The infographic above displays the median age for all buyers, first time buyers, and repeat buyers.  As we can see from the graph below, the age of first time buyers hasn't changed too drastically since 1981.  However, the median age of repeat buyers has increased by 18 years.  

To analyze why this may be a factor, we have to make some assumptions.  It could be assumed that a repeat buyer at 36 could be buying a bigger and/or more expensive house as they have had time to build equity and increased their income.  On the inverse, repeat buyers at the age of 54 may be wanting smaller houses.  

Could the increase of student loans play a factor in the median ages for first time home buyers and repeat buyers going up?  Has the cost of living vs the average income become skewed so buyers have to wait to purchase homes?  All of these could  be factors.  I think another large factor could be that first time buyers who bought at the height of the bubble are waiting to make better profits with currently growing market. 

Let me know if you can think of any other factors that may add to the increased median age of buyers. 

Source: National Association of Realtors