Buyers have gotten older, especially first-timers. Per the National Association of Realtors' annual buyer surveys, the median age of a first-time buyer has climbed into the upper 30s, up from a historical norm closer to the low 30s. Those figures move each year, so check the current NAR data for the latest, but the direction has been steadily up as affordability has stretched. In our own client base, most first-time buyers land somewhere from around 30 into the early 40s. California tends to skew older than the national number, because higher prices mean more time to build a down payment and to reach the job and income stability a bigger loan requires. That's math more than preference. A $200,000 starter market lets you buy younger than a market where entry costs several times that. As for share of the market, NAR has generally put first-timers at roughly a third of buyers, though the figure has swung lower in tighter, less affordable stretches, so confirm the current number there too. The practical takeaway: there is no right age to buy. If you're on the older end of that range, you're squarely in the norm. What matters is buying when your numbers and your life are ready, and the free Roadmap conversation can tell you whether they are.