- Baby boomers are dipping into their cash pile after years of home value appreciation throughout the pandemic housing boom to buy smaller homes near family and friends. Millennials, on the other hand, are tapping into family money for down payments. “Baby boomers are dominating the housing market,” an economist told Fortune.
The baby boomer/millennial housing war rages on. Baby boomers are buying and selling more homes than millennials, according to the National Association of Realtors’ latest generational trends report released Tuesday.
Baby boomers accounted for 42% of all homebuyers, while millennials accounted for 29%. But just a year earlier, baby boomers made up just 31% of homebuyers, and millennials 38%. Baby boomers are not only buying homes in greater numbers, but doing so in all cash.
“In a plot twist, baby boomers have overtaken millennials—the largest U.S. population—to become the top generation of homebuyers,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement. “What’s striking is that half of older boomers and two out of five younger boomers are purchasing homes entirely with cash, bypassing financing altogether.”
(The report classifies younger millennials as those between 26 and 34 years old and older millennials as those between 35 and 44 years old; for boomers, the younger of the generation is grouped 60 to 69 years old and the older 70 to 78 years old.)
Baby boomers primarily moved to be closer to family and friends and out of a desire to downsize. Because this generation benefited from years of home appreciation, they can use that cash pile they earned from selling to buy a new home. In the past five years alone, home values have soared 45%, according to Zillow. That is more than a decade worth of the typical increase, per Zillow. In February 2020, the average home value was around $245,000, and in February 2025 it was around $357,000, Zillow data shows.
In an era when people are refusing to sell their homes out of fear of losing a low mortgage rate, it might not be that surprising to learn baby boomers made up the largest share of sellers at 53%. It’s unlikely someone would want to trade a sub-3% mortgage rate locked in during the pandemic for one that is now more than double, unless they can buy their next home in all-cash and be mortgage-free. That, or they’ve paid off their mortgage, so the rate wouldn’t matter either way.
Millennials, on the other hand, might need to rely on family money to buy a home. One-third of younger millennials received down payment help in the form of a gift or a loan from a friend or relative, according to the NAR report. Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, once called such millennials “nepo homebuyers,” a play on nepotism. She admitted she was one herself, too.
But older millennials are buying big and new because they’re using the cash from their prior homes (similar to boomers) or their incomes are more substantial than the younger part of their generation.
“Older millennials are buying bigger and newer homes with larger down payments than their younger counterparts,” Lautz said. “This shift reflects the increasing role of equity in enabling repeat purchases, especially among older generations, while younger buyers continue to face affordability challenges.”
While baby boomers are powering the housing market, others are suffering through it and bringing it to a halt because they can’t buy or won’t sell.
There are two factors plaguing the housing world that have pushed it to a standstill: deteriorated affordability and the lock-in effect. Home prices soared throughout the pandemic because people were buying homes in spades since they could move anywhere to work remotely, and they wanted more space. This drove up demand. Then, inflation pained consumers, and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates—and mortgage rates skyrocketed. Would-be sellers held onto their homes and would-be buyers stayed on the sidelines.
That’s still playing out, as is evident in sales data. Last year, existing home sales fell to their lowest level in three decades, and they might not be any better this year because not much has changed when it comes to mortgage rates or home prices. The situation could actually worsen once the true effect of tariffs becomes known. All of this has resulted in a leg up for boomers—not so much for millennials, Lautz said.
“Baby boomers are dominating the housing market as repeat buyers, often purchasing their next homes with cash,” Lautz told Fortune in a statement. “Older millennials are also likely to be repeat buyers, but are settling into the ‘golden handcuffs’ of low-rate mortgages and may lack motivation to move. Meanwhile, younger millennials—many of whom are first-time buyers—are being shut out due to the affordability crisis and lack of inventory.”
