rewrite this title First-Time Home Buyer Affordability Data – Q4 2025 – NerdWallet

Monthly median list price and list count figures are from monthly inventory data from the Realtor.com residential listings database as of March 1, 2026. All nominal list prices were adjusted to Dec. 2025 dollars using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index. All monthly median figures were compiled into quarterly averages.

The median age of first-time home buyers is 40, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Estimated income for first-time home buyers was derived from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey metro-level median household income for householders ages 25-44 — the range likely to include most first-time home buyers — and adjusted to Dec. 2025 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index.

Homeowners insurance premiums were estimated using a sample policy profile across all markets through Quadrant Information Services.

Additional sources for this analysis include: population estimates and median real estate taxes from the American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau and the average Q4 rates on 30-year fixed mortgages, from Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.