{"id":345929,"date":"2026-01-22T13:32:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.sothebysrealty.com\/?p=345929"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:09:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T20:09:47","slug":"luxury-lens-who-is-buying-homes-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/luxury-lens-who-is-buying-homes-in-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Luxury Lens: Who is Buying Homes in the U.S.?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a changing picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"675\" data-attachment-id=\"345931\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/luxury-lens-who-is-buying-homes-in-the-u-s\/lens\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens.jpeg\" data-orig-size=\"9000,5930\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Lens\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens-1024x675.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens-1024x675.jpeg\" alt=\"Homebuyer Demographics\" class=\"wp-image-345931\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens-1024x675.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens-300x198.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens-768x506.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens-1536x1012.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens-2048x1349.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lens-1200x791.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take first-time purchasers. The \u201c2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers\u201d, published by the National Association of REALTORS\u00ae (NAR) on November 4, reveals that married couples today account for just half of first-time buyer households, down from 58% in 2016 and far below the 1985 high of 75%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taking a larger share of the first-time buyer market are unmarried couples (up from 0% in 1981 to 11% today) and single women, who now make up a quarter (25%) of first-time purchases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSingle women have homeownership as a top priority and they will find a way to obtain it,\u201d says Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research for NAR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond first-time buyers, the share of all buyers with children under the age of 18 living at home has dropped to 24%\u2014a historic low. \u201cThe median age of repeat buyers is now 62,\u201d explains Lautz. \u201cBeing an empty nester may free up finances for these homebuyers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cover Property: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/eng\/sales\/detail\/180-l-601-zf3p3w\/1240-mokulua-drive-lanikai-kailua-hi-96734\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kailua, Hawaii<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"171\" data-attachment-id=\"330410\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/footer-water-generic\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-water-generic.png\" data-orig-size=\"1024,171\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"footer-water-generic\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-water-generic.png\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-water-generic.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-330410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-water-generic.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-water-generic-300x50.png 300w, https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-water-generic-768x128.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s a changing picture. Take first-time purchasers. The \u201c2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers\u201d, published by the National Association of REALTORS\u00ae (NAR) on November 4, reveals that married couples today account for just half of first-time buyer households, down from 58% in 2016 and far below the 1985 high of 75%. Taking a larger [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232770370,"featured_media":345935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1561,1403],"tags":[1446],"class_list":["post-345929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-luxury-lens","category-market-insights","tag-hawaii"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pf4gbL-1rZv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":344533,"url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/luxury-lens-are-overseas-buyers-in-the-market-for-luxury-u-s-homes\/","url_meta":{"origin":345929,"position":0},"title":"Luxury Lens: Are Overseas Buyers in the Market for Luxury U.S. Homes?","author":"Kate Marburger","date":"September 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Are overseas buyers in the market for luxury U.S. homes? In short: yes. Overseas buyers bought homes priced at least US$1M at more than twice the rate of U.S. buyers in the year to March 2025, according to analysis by the\u00a0National Association of REALTORS(NAR). NAR\u2019s\u00a02025 International Transactions in U.S. Residential\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/category\/market-insights\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-5.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-5.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-5.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":344127,"url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/luxury-lens-what-percentage-of-u-s-homebuyers-purchase-at-asking-price\/","url_meta":{"origin":345929,"position":1},"title":"Luxury Lens: What percentage of U.S. homebuyers purchase at asking price?","author":"Kate Marburger","date":"June 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 56% of today's U.S. homebuyers are paying full asking price or more according to newly released research by the National Association of REALTORS\u00ae (NAR) This significant market trend highlights the importance of informed pricing strategies in today\u2019s real estate market. The final sale price of a home can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Market Insights&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Market Insights","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/category\/market-insights\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_517596594.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_517596594.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_517596594.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_517596594.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_517596594.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_517596594.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":347480,"url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/luxury-lens-is-upsizing-until-its-time-to-downsize-a-thing-of-the-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":345929,"position":2},"title":"Luxury Lens: Is upsizing until it\u2019s time to downsize a thing of the past?","author":"Kate Marburger","date":"July 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Quite possibly. More and more buyers want homes they can live in for life\u2014especially at the top end of the market. 38% of US$10M+ real estate professionals worldwide say homebuyers increasingly want to \u201cage in place,\u201d according to the 2026 Mid-Year Luxury Outlook\u00ae agent survey, published by Sotheby\u2019s International Realty,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Luxury Lens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Luxury Lens","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/category\/market-insights\/luxury-lens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White country hosue in Germantown, new York, with views of a pond and hills in the background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Four-Seasons.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Four-Seasons.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Four-Seasons.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Four-Seasons.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Four-Seasons.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Four-Seasons.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":344384,"url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/luxury-lens-is-the-u-s-a-buyers-or-sellers-market\/","url_meta":{"origin":345929,"position":3},"title":"Luxury Lens: Is the U.S. a Buyer\u2019s or Seller\u2019s Market?","author":"Kate Marburger","date":"August 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Is the U.S. a buyer\u2019s\u00a0or seller\u2019s market? This is the question everyone wants answered. In the U.S., sellers have enjoyed the upper hand for most of the past decade. \u201cWe've been in a seller's market pretty consistently since 2016,\u201d says Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. But is the market\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/category\/market-insights\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/header-8.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/header-8.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/header-8.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/header-8.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/header-8.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/header-8.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":347187,"url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/luxury-lens-where-in-the-world-are-the-ultra-wealthy-moving-to\/","url_meta":{"origin":345929,"position":4},"title":"Luxury Lens: Where in the world are the ultra-wealthy moving to?","author":"Kate Marburger","date":"June 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The ultra-wealthy\u2014those with a net worth of US$30M+\u2014are highly mobile. Almost one in five live outside the country they were born in, according to \u201cGlobal Citizens: Entrepreneurship, Mobility and the Ultra Wealthy,\u201d published April 22, 2026, by Altrata. This slice of the world\u2019s ultra-wealthy population is fueling demand for luxury\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Luxury Lens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Luxury Lens","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/category\/market-insights\/luxury-lens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The facade of a three-story home in London, England","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/London.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/London.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/London.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/London.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/London.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/London.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":345568,"url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/luxury-lens-where-in-the-world-does-1m-buy-the-most-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":345929,"position":5},"title":"Luxury Lens: Where in the World Does $1M Buy the Most Space?","author":"Kate Marburger","date":"December 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Size matters. Sometimes. At least when it comes to luxury real estate. \u201cWhere $1 Million Buys the Most Space,\u201d published by Realtor.com\u00ae on October 27, 2025, reveals that existing high-end U.S. homes priced at US$1-2M range significantly in size nationwide. At one end of the scale is Urban Honolulu, where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Luxury Lens&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Luxury Lens","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/category\/market-insights\/luxury-lens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mauritius.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mauritius.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mauritius.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mauritius.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mauritius.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mauritius.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kailua.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/232770370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345929"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345934,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345929\/revisions\/345934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}