First-Time Home Buyer Statistics 2026: U.S., UK, EU, Canada and Netherlands
27 Jul 2026A definition-conscious comparison of first-time-buyer participation, affordability, deposits and living arrangements across five major housing datasets.
Quick answer: First-time buyers accounted for a record-low 21% of U.S. primary-residence buyers in the National Association of Realtors' 2026 generational survey, while their typical age reached 40. In Canada, homebuyers reported saving for a down payment for an average of 4.4 years. In England, a median-priced home cost 7.6 times median full-time earnings in 2025. In the Netherlands, the published count of under-25s leaving the parental home and entering the housing market fell 23% in 2024, while the central bank says more than half of first-time buyers borrow over 90% of the home's value.
These figures describe the same broad problem: entry into homeownership, but they are not a single international ranking. Each source uses different populations, periods and definitions.
Anyone.com Research, "First-Time Home Buyer Statistics 2026," updated 24 July 2026. Sources include NAR, ONS, Eurostat, CMHC, Statistics Canada, CBS, Kadaster and De Nederlandsche Bank.
-Anyone Research
Key statistics
First-time buyers were 21% of U.S. buyers in NAR's annual 2026 study, down from 24% and the lowest share since tracking began in 1981.
The typical U.S. first-time buyer was 40 years old.
First-time buyers made a median 10% down payment, the highest in roughly four decades.
Among younger U.S. Millennials who bought, 60% were first-time buyers; among older Millennials, 33% were.
A separate monthly U.S. survey put first-time buyers at 33% of existing-home sales in June 2026. The monthly and annual results use different samples and periods.
In England, the median home cost £300,000 in 2025 against median full-time earnings of £39,300, an affordability ratio of 7.6.
There were 352,000 recent first-time-buyer households in England with a household reference person aged 35–64, more than double the 155,000 estimated a decade earlier.
Across the EU, 68% of people lived in owner-occupied homes in 2024, but this is an all-age tenure figure, not a first-time-buyer rate.
Canadian homebuyers saved for a down payment for an average 4.4 years, one year longer than in the 2025 survey.
27% of Canadian first-time buyers received a gift toward buying, and 28% needed a co-signer other than a spouse.
In the Netherlands, 95,916 people under 25 left a parental home and entered the housing market in 2024, down from 124,619 in 2023.
A modal-income Dutch household could afford just 4.5% of homes for sale in 2025, compared with 23% in 2017.
Dutch first-time buyers used an average 92% of the maximum mortgage permitted by income in 2025.
International snapshot
Market: United States — Latest entry-pressure signal: First-time buyers were 21% of buyers; typical age 40. Period: Homes bought July 2024–June 2025. Definition warning: NAR annual survey of primary-residence buyers.
Market: England — Latest entry-pressure signal: Median price-to-earnings ratio 7.6. Period: 2025. Definition warning: All median-priced homes vs full-time employee earnings.
Market: European Union — Latest entry-pressure signal: 68% lived in owner-occupied housing. Period: 2024. Definition warning: All-age population tenure, not buyer flow.
Market: Canada — Latest entry-pressure signal: Homebuyers saved 4.4 years on average. Period: Jan. 2026 survey. Definition warning: Recent mortgage consumers in a CMHC survey.
Market: Netherlands — Latest entry-pressure signal: Modal-income household could afford 4.5% of supply. Period: 2025. Definition warning: Kadaster affordability model, not purchase share.
The table is intentionally not ranked. "First-time buyer," "recent buyer," "owner" and "affordable" are different concepts.
United States: a record-low annual share
The National Association of Realtors' 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends study found that first-time buyers represented 21% of buyers, down from 24% a year earlier. NAR described that as the lowest share since it began tracking the measure in 1981.
The association also reported:
a typical first-time-buyer age of 40;
a median first-time-buyer down payment of 10%;
25% of first-time buyers using stocks, retirement funds or other financial assets toward the purchase;
22% receiving a gift or loan from relatives or friends.
The financing barrier is not only the formal minimum down payment. NAR notes that some conventional programs may permit 3% down, FHA financing may require 3.5%, and eligible VA or USDA borrowers may qualify for zero-down programs. Buyers still need to qualify, fund transaction costs and maintain reserves.
Who was buying?
NAR's generational shares of all buyers were:
Generation Z: 4% of buyers
Millennials: 26% of buyers
Generation X: 25% of buyers
Baby Boomers: 42% of buyers
Silent Generation: 4% of buyers
The rounded values sum to 101%. That is a normal rounding effect, not evidence of an extra category.
First-time status varied sharply within those groups:
Younger Millennials: 60% were first-time buyers
Older Millennials: 33% were first-time buyers
Generation X: 21% were first-time buyers
Younger Baby Boomers: 8% were first-time buyers
Older Baby Boomers: 4% were first-time buyers
Silent Generation: 3% were first-time buyers
Among Gen Z buyers, 35% were single women and 17% were unmarried couples. Across all generations, 14% bought a multigenerational home; the share reached 19% for Generation X.
Source: NAR 2026 generational trends release.
Why NAR also reported 33% in June
NAR's monthly Realtors Confidence Index reported that first-time buyers were 33% of existing-home buyers in June 2026. That does not invalidate the annual 21% result.
NAR measure: 2026 Generational Trends — First-time share: 21%. Coverage: Survey of purchases from July 2024 to June 2025.
NAR measure: June 2026 Realtors Confidence Index — First-time share: 33%. Coverage: Monthly sample of recent existing-home transactions.
Different reporting windows, samples and questionnaires can produce different estimates. A responsible citation should name the survey, not say simply “first-time buyers are 21%” or “33%.”
NAR's annual survey was sent to 173,250 recent buyers and received 6,103 responses, a 3.5% response rate. NAR reports a 95% confidence interval of plus or minus 1.25 percentage points for the overall study.
Sources: NAR research and statistics and NAR's 2026 first-time-buyer analysis.
England: affordability improved, but the ratio remained high
The Office for National Statistics reported that a median home in England cost £300,000 in 2025, while median annual earnings for a full-time employee were £39,300. The price-to-earnings ratio was therefore 7.6. In Wales, a £213,000 median home was 6.0 times median earnings of £35,800.
Affordability improved in many places because earnings grew faster than prices:
between 2021 and 2025, median English and Welsh house prices rose about 5%;
median earnings rose about 25%;
affordability improved in 213 local authorities and worsened in 103;
the ratio ranged from 4.1 in Hyndburn and Hull to 25.2 in Kensington and Chelsea;
the regional ratio was 5.0 in the North East and 10.6 in London.
ONS uses five times annual earnings as a higher borrowing threshold in one of its illustrations. On that basis, an average-priced English home still required £104,000 more than five times average earnings; the Welsh gap was £34,000.
Source: ONS, Housing affordability in England and Wales: 2025.
More first-time buyers were entering later
The English Housing Survey estimated 352,000 recent first-time-buyer households whose household reference person was aged 35–64, compared with 155,000 ten years earlier.
Within that older first-time-buyer group:
66% had a white household reference person and 34% had an ethnic-minority household reference person;
34% were in the fourth income quintile and 31% in the highest;
5% were in the lowest income quintile;
41% were couples with dependent children;
25% were one-person households;
the one-person share rose from 9% a decade earlier to 25%.
European Union: tenure and the route out of the parental home
Eurostat reported that 68% of the EU population lived in an owner-occupied home in 2024 and 32% rented. National tenure patterns varied widely:
Romania: 94% in owner-occupied housing
Slovakia: 93% in owner-occupied housing
Hungary: 92% in owner-occupied housing
Croatia: 91% in owner-occupied housing
Germany was the only member state in which a majority rented, at 53%. The tenant share was also high in Austria (46%) and Denmark (39%).
Tenure does not reveal whether a young adult bought the home, lives with an owner or inherited a property. It is still useful context for how different European housing systems distribute ownership and renting.
Housing type differs too: 51% of EU residents lived in a house and 48% in a flat. In cities, 73% lived in flats. Ireland had the highest house share at 90%; the Netherlands and Belgium were both at 77%.
Source: Eurostat, Housing in Europe – 2025 interactive edition.
Young adults faced higher housing-cost pressure
Across the EU, the average age of leaving the parental home was 26.2 years in 2024, down slightly from 26.3 in 2023. Eurostat also reported that 11.7% of people aged 20–24 faced housing-cost overburden, compared with 7.2% of those aged 15–19.
In 16 EU countries, the housing-cost overburden rate for people aged 15–29 was higher than for the population overall. The Netherlands had one of the largest gaps, at 8.4 percentage points.
Sources: Eurostat on leaving the parental home and Eurostat on young people's housing conditions.
Canada: longer saving, more co-signers
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation surveyed more than 4,100 recent mortgage consumers in January 2026. First-time buyers were 11% of respondents; mortgage renewers were the largest transaction group at 66%.
The survey's homebuyers and first-time-buyer subgroup reported:
an average 4.4 years spent saving for a down payment among all homebuyers, up from 3.4 years in the 2025 survey;
savings as the largest source of the down payment for 51%;
an average 7.6 years renting before buying, up from 6.3;
72% having rented before buying, compared with 64% a year earlier;
27% having lived with family or friends, down from 35%;
27% receiving a financial gift toward the purchase, down from 34%;
28% needing a co-signer other than a spouse.
Among first-time buyers who used a co-signer, 54% named a parent, 25% a child, 25% another relative and 7% a business partner or friend. The categories can overlap because respondents could select more than one answer.
Across all homebuyers, 23% received a gift and the median gift was $30,000. Of gift recipients, 26% said they could not have bought the home they needed without it, up from 19% in the previous survey.
Unexpected expenses were common: 36% of first-time buyers reported them. Among all affected buyers, 52% used savings, 31% credit, and 20% a gift; responses could overlap.
Source: CMHC 2026 Mortgage Consumer Survey.
Millennials remained less likely to own at the same age
Statistics Canada found that 49.9% of Millennials aged 25–39 lived in an owner-occupied dwelling in 2021. At the same age, the rate was 56.2% for Generation X and 55.9% for Baby Boomers.
Millennials aged 25–39 were also twice as likely as Boomers at the same age to live with parents: 16.3% versus 8.2%. Among the same age group, 26.6% of Millennials were married and living with children, compared with 34.5% of Generation X and 46.6% of Boomers.
These cohort comparisons use 2021 census data and belong in a 2026 article as structural context, not as a claim about the 2026 market.
Netherlands: fewer young entrants and high leverage
Statistics Netherlands counted 518,000 people entering the housing market in 2024, down from 560,000 in 2023. The decline was concentrated among young people leaving a parental home:
Under 25: 2023 entrants 124,619; 2024 entrants 95,916; change −23.0%
25–34: 2023 entrants 80,958; 2024 entrants 83,532; change +3.2%
35+: 2023 entrants 9,711; 2024 entrants 9,753; change +0.4%
The under-25 change is an Anyone Research calculation from CBS's unrounded published counts: (95,916 ÷ 124,619) − 1 = −23.0%.
New entrants moved predominantly into rental housing:
Owner-occupied: 2023 entrant households 33,944; 2024 entrant households 37,259
Social rental: 2023 entrant households 44,603; 2024 entrant households 45,085
Private rental: 2023 entrant households 80,654; 2024 entrant households 67,870
Other: 2023 entrant households 6,572; 2024 entrant households 6,287
In 2024, 24% of housing-market entrants moved into owner-occupied housing, 29% into social rental and 43% into private rental. Nearly 157,000 homes were bought by new entrants, including entrants who formed a household together or joined an existing one.
Source: CBS, Fewer young people entering the housing market.
Entry meant stretching income and debt capacity
Kadaster reported that:
first-time buyers paid an average €385,000 in the first quarter of 2025, 6% more than a year earlier;
a modal-income household could afford 4.5% of homes for sale in 2025, up from 3.8% a year earlier but far below 23% in 2017.
De Nederlandsche Bank reported that Dutch house prices rose 21% from mid-2023, compared with a 14% increase in incomes. Three-quarters of homes sold above the asking price in 2025. More than half of first-time buyers financed over 90% of the home's value, and first-time buyers used an average 92% of the maximum mortgage allowed by income, versus 83% for movers.
Sources: Kadaster, Q1 2025 housing market; Kadaster, Q2 2025 affordability; DNB on lending standards; and the DNB Financial Stability Report.
What the data says across markets
Four patterns recur, even though the measures differ.
1. Entry is happening later
The typical U.S. first-time buyer reached 40, England counted far more recent first-time-buyer households with a reference person aged 35–64, and fewer Dutch under-25s left home. The route to an independent home is lengthening.
2. The deposit is only one constraint
Canadian buyers saved longer and often needed gifts or co-signers. Dutch buyers stretched close to income-based mortgage limits. English price-to-earnings ratios remained high even after improving. Transaction costs, qualifying rules and reserves matter alongside the headline deposit.
3. Family support changes who can enter
Gifts, co-signers, multigenerational buying and living with parents appear in several datasets. Those resources are not evenly distributed, so similar earners can face very different paths into ownership.
4. Better coordination cannot solve undersupply—but can reduce friction
A transaction platform cannot create affordable homes or change interest rates. It can make costs, documents, deadlines, professional roles and decisions clearer. For buyers crossing borders, the process burden is even greater; Anyone's guide to buying a home abroad as an expat explains the practical sequence.
First-time-buyer preparation checklist
Define the full cash requirement, including taxes, legal work, inspection, financing and moving.
Test the payment against a less favorable interest-rate or expense scenario.
Document gifts and co-signing arrangements before making an offer.
Check which first-time-buyer definition each incentive or loan program uses.
Separate an indicative borrowing amount from final approval.
Keep an emergency reserve after completion.
Verify all payment instructions independently.
Put the transaction steps, owners and deadlines in one plan.
This article is research, not individualized mortgage, tax or legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Methodology
Anyone.com Research selected the latest authoritative source available by 24 July 2026 for each market and preserved the publisher's definition:
NAR annual and monthly buyer surveys for the United States;
ONS and the English Housing Survey for England;
Eurostat for EU tenure and young-adult housing conditions;
CMHC and Statistics Canada for Canada;
CBS, Kadaster and DNB for the Netherlands.
We do not average the country metrics or rank countries. Calculated changes are labeled or explained beside the table. Monetary amounts remain in their source currency.
Limitations
Reporting periods range from 2021 cohort context to 2026 surveys.
Survey estimates are subject to response and sampling error.
"First-time buyer" can refer to an individual, household or mortgage transaction.
Tenure statistics are not buyer-flow statistics.
Price-to-income and mortgage-capacity models use different assumptions.
Some categories allow multiple responses and do not sum to 100%.
Next review: quarterly source check; full refresh by 31 January 2027.
Update log
27 July 2026: First edition, using source material available through June 2026.
Overview
England: affordability improved, but the ratio remained high
More first-time buyers were entering later
European Union: tenure and the route out of the parental home
Young adults faced higher housing-cost pressure
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