On Nov. 4, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released its 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers report which analyzes homebuyer/seller characteristics and consumers’ experience with real estate agents during the buying/selling process.

NAR surveyed recent homebuyers and sellers who recently completed a transaction between July 2024 and June 2025.

Homebuyers’ experience

According to the report, the median age of all homebuyers was 59 years old, with first-time buyers around 40 and repeat buyers around 62. Of the buyers’ households, 61 percent were comprised of married couples, 21 percent of single females and 9 percent of single males. First-time buyers tended to be married (50 percent), with the share of single female buyers at 11 percent and single males at 10 percent.

The report also investigated the median household incomes and prior living arrangements of homebuyers. For all buyers, the median income in 2024 was $109,000, $94,400 for first-time buyers and $111,700 for repeat buyers. Of the buyers, 65 percent reported owning a previous home while 24 percent had previously rented an apartment or house and 9 percent previously lived with relatives or friends.

Buyers and the home search process

When initiating the home search process, 30 percent of first-time homebuyers looked for properties for sale online while 16 percent looked for information about the homebuying process online. Half of repeat buyers, however, looked online for properties as their first step with 21 percent contacting a real estate agent first.

Eighty-seven percent of all buyers used real estate agents as their information source, 70 percent used a mobile search device, 52 percent used an online video site and 48 percent used an open house. Seventy-seven percent of buyers reported that real estate agents were “very useful.”

The median amount of time buyers spent looking for a home was 10 weeks, consistent with last year. Fifty-two percent of buyers found their home on the internet, 27 percent through an agent and 9 percent through a friend, relative or neighbor, the report stated.

When asked about the most difficult steps of the homebuying process, 56 percent of all buyers reported that finding the right property was the most difficult, followed by paperwork at 18 percent. Thirty-eight percent of first-time buyers indicated that understanding the process and steps was the most difficult, with 31 percent reporting that saving for the down payment was the most difficult.

Overall, 59 percent of buyers reported being “very satisfied” with the buying process, 33 percent “somewhat satisfied” and only 2 percent “very dissatisfied.”

How buyers finance their homes

The report also gathered information on how buyers financed their home purchases. Seventy-four percent of all buyers financed their homes, with 92 percent of first-time buyers doing so and 70 percent of repeat buyers. The median down payment for all buyers was 19 percent, with first-time buyers putting down 10 percent and repeat buyers putting down 23 percent. According to the report, “This is the highest down payment for first-time buyers since 1989 and the highest down payment for repeat buyers since 2003.”

The funds for the down payment came from savings for 46 percent of all buyers and from proceeds from the sale of a primary residence for 44 percent of all buyers. Homebuyers relied on savings (59 percent) and gifts from relatives or friends (19 percent) while 54 percent of repeat buyers relied on the sale of their previous home.

When it came to the mortgage application process, 32 percent of all buyers said the process was “somewhat or much more difficult than expected” while 20 percent said it was “easier than expected.” For first time buyers, the application and approval process was “somewhat or much more difficult than expected” (43 percent compared to 29 percent for repeat buyers).

The main reasons buyers reported being rejected by mortgage lenders included their debt-to-income ration (45 percent), a low credit score (24 percent) or not enough money in reserves (13 percent).

When asked if buying a home was a good financial investment, 79 percent of all buyers agreed it was, with 35 percent believing it was better than stocks and 30 percent believe it was about as good as stocks.

Homesellers’ experience

According to the report, the median age of all homesellers is 64 years old with a median income in 2024 of $112,400. Of these households, 68 percent are married couples, 20 percent are single females and 7 percent are single males.

Fifty-five percent of homesellers managed to sell their home in 2024 and 18 percent sold in 2025. Twenty-four percent were first-time sellers and 76 percent were repeat sellers, with 66 percent of sellers moving to a home within the same state and 15 percent in the same region. Eighty-two percent of the homes sold were detached single-family homes, followed by 5 percent being townhouses or row houses.

A little over half of sellers (53 percent) did minor renovations before selling and 35 percent sold their house as is. Twenty-six percent of sellers claimed their primary reason for selling was to be closer to friends and family, followed by the home being too small or too large (both 10 percent). Ninety-six percent of all sellers were able to sell when they wanted to and 29 percent sold at 95 to 99 percent of the listing price, with 28 percent selling at the listing price. Thirty-four percent of sellers reported that their home sold one to two weeks after being on the market.

Overall, 66 percent of sellers said they were “very satisfied” with the selling process, 24 percent were “somewhat satisfied” and only 3 percent were “very dissatisfied.”

Relationship with real estate professionals

When investigating the relationship between buyers/sellers and real estate professionals, 88 percent of buyers purchased a home through a real estate agent or broker, with only 7 percent buying directly from the previous owners.

Half of buyers said they wanted agents to help them find the right home to purchase, 13 percent wanted help negotiating the terms of sale and 12 percent wanted help with price negotiations.

A little more than half of buyers (54 percent) said agents pointed out unnoticed features or faults of the property, with 52 percent reporting that agents helped them understand the process and 45 percent helping them negotiate better sales contract terms.

According to the report, “Satisfaction with real estate agents’ skills and qualities were overwhelmingly positive. At least 89 percent of buyers expressed satisfaction with their agent’s responsiveness, knowledge of the purchase process, and honesty and integrity.” Seventy-six percent of buyers said they would “definitely” use the same real estate agent again or recommend them to others.

On the seller side, 91 percent of sellers sold with the assistance of a real estate agent, up from 90 percent last year. According to the report, “this is an all-time high and was last seen in 2018.”

In purchasing their new home, 51 percent of sellers used the same agent, and 49 percent used a different agent. Eighty-six percent of sellers reported that their agent performed “a broad range of services and management of most aspects of the home sale.”

When choosing an agent, 35 percent of sellers reported that they considered the reputation of the agent, while 22 percent considered if the agent was honest and trustworthy and 15 percent used an agent that was a family member or a friend.

Twenty-three percent of sellers wanted their agent to help with marketing the home to potential buyers. Nineteen percent wanted their house to be priced competitively, and 19 percent wanted the house to sell within a specific timeframe.

Sellers reported that the main methods of marketing the home were multiple listing service websites (85 percent), yard signs (67 percent), open houses (59 percent) and Realtor.com (50 percent).

Seventy-five percent of sellers indicated that they would use the same agent again or recommend that agent to others.