Luxury Lens: How much wealthier does buying a home earlier in life make you?

Back yard of a Contemporary home in Studio City California with pool and patio

May 1, 2026

Quite a lot, it turns out.

Infographic detailing the boost in wealth when homeowners purchase at a young age. age 28-32: 235, age 33-37: 11%, age 38-42: 1.5%

Purchase a home by age 30 and your net worth will be 22.5% higher by the time you turn 50, according to the “2026 Generational Wealth & Housing Report,” published March 12, 2026, by Realtor.com®.

Wait until your mid-thirties (between the ages of 33 and 37) and that wealth boost shrinks to 11.2%, according to the study, dropping to just 1.5% when buying for the first time aged 38-42 and zero if you become a homeowner beyond your 43rd birthday.

Infographic: homeownership creates more wealth than renting. Average net worth of homeowners is 38 times higher than for renters.

However, all U.S. homeowners are significantly wealthier than renters. The average net worth of homeowners was 38 times greater than renters of the same age between 1989 and 2022, shows Realtor.com analysis of the “Survey of Consumer Finances,” published by the US Federal Reserve Board on November 2, 2023.

And Realtor.com also reports that children raised in homeowner households are 18.4% more likely to become homeowners by age 35 than those brought up in renter households.

Cover Property: Studio City, California