WealthManagement.com reported on Nov. 5, 2026, in a Bloomberg wire story it republished, that inheritance is playing a larger role in how first-time buyers pay for homes. The Bloomberg wire story, republished by WealthManagement.com, was built on National Association of Realtors figures: 10% of first-time buyers bought entirely with cash in the 12 months to June, a record for that measure. It also said 28% of those all-cash purchases were backed by an inheritance.
NAR's own release on the same day, covering its 2026 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, said the first-time buyer share of the market rose to 22% from a record low of 21%. The median age of first-time buyers held at a record 40. The report is based on a July 2026 survey of 228,250 recent buyers, which asked 121 questions and was weighted to be representative of sales by geography.
The release also broke out how the all-cash group differs from the rest. The median age of first-time buyers who paid all cash was 54, compared with 38 for buyers who financed their purchases. On down payments, NAR reported that inheritance accounted for 10% of first-time buyers' down-payment sources, the highest share the association has recorded. Personal savings remained the top source, at 62%.
NAR's deputy chief economist, Jessica Lautz, said the housing market is starting to see a generational transfer of wealth, but that the effect has not yet reached a large scale. She also said affordability remains the biggest obstacle for first-time buyers.
For background, NAR is a Chicago-headquartered trade association for real estate professionals with an office in Washington, D.C. NAR's website says it was founded in Chicago on May 12, 1908, as the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges. Reference sources put its membership at about 1.5 million in 2024. Newsweek reported that inheritance-funded first-time purchases marked the fourth straight annual increase. The same Newsweek report cited Freddie Mac figures showing 30-year fixed mortgage rates at 7.24% for the week ending Oct. 29, up from 6.17% a year earlier.
Research published by Realtor.com and Bright MLS, as reported by RISMedia, argues that the transfer of housing from older owners to younger buyers may be uneven across markets. The NAR figures describe the national picture, and the sources reviewed do not break the inheritance data down by region. Further releases from NAR would be needed to show whether the pattern holds in individual metro areas.