As a Housing Affordability Crisis Worsens, Multi-Generational Buying Is on the Rise

First-time and repeat buyers are increasingly turning to multi-generational living to spend more time with loved ones and to save on housing costs

Over the past several years, the share of multi-generational homebuyers peaked to new highs as  Americans sought out ways to spend more time with their families while saving money on home purchases. After dropping to 11% in 2021, multi-generational buying is back near an all-time high at 14%, led by Gen Xers caring for both aging adults and younger generations moving back into their childhood homes.

For both first-time and repeat buyers, roughly 30% say that caretaking or spending time with aging relatives is important, but among all reasons for buying a multi-generational home, first-timers reported cost-savings as the greatest motivating factor, the National Association of Realtors reports.

For first-time buyers, who struggled to enter last year’s housing market, perhaps it is unsurprising that they are more likely to purchase a multi-generational home due to cost savings and for a larger home that multiple incomes could buy together. First-time buyers, who have a median age of 36, also are more likely to say their adult children have not yet left the nest. On the other hand, repeat buyers, who have a median age of 59, are more likely to say their adult children are now boomeranging back.

Read more