1 in 3 Baby Boomers Say They Will Not Sell Their Home: Report

Many older people refuse to sell because they cannot afford a similar property in their neighborhood. That makes the market tight for young buyers.

A home for sale in Miami on Feb. 22, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

More than 33 percent of baby boomers who are homeowners said they will never sell their homes, real estate brokerage Redfin said in a June 18 statement detailing the results of a survey.

“Another 30 percent say they’ll sell their home at some point, but not within the next decade,” the report stated. As for older people, the survey revealed that they are even less likely to sell than baby boomers. Nearly 45 percent of the Silent Generation do not plan to sell their residential properties.

The Redfin report, based on a survey of roughly 4,000 U.S. residents, said younger homeowners are less likely to rule out selling. According to the report, 25 percent of Gen Xers and 21 percent of millennials/Gen Zers said they would not sell.

The main reasons for not selling are that homeowners like their current homes, and that they don’t wish to move. Also, new homes have higher prices, and buyers would face elevated mortgage rates.

According to Redfin, home prices have gone up by roughly 40 percent since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and mortgage rates are near 7 percent.

The median price of homes sold in the United States was $416,900 in the first quarter of 2025, up from $329,000 in the same quarter of 2020, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Ten years ago, prices were even lower, at $289,200.

Meanwhile, the weekly average interest on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has consistently remained above 6 percent since September 2022, according to data from Freddie Mac. For the most recent week ending on June 18, rates were at 6.81 percent—more than double the 3.13 percent of roughly five years back.

“Nearly one-third (31 percent) of baby boomers who own their home say they couldn’t afford a home like theirs in their neighborhood today,” the report stated.

Regarding purchasing a new home, about one in four millennial and Gen Z renters say they cannot afford a home in an area where they want to live.

For the younger people, the other reasons, according to the survey, are being financially unprepared for the surprise costs of owning a home, high mortgages, and the inability to fund a down payment.

“While inventory is improving, supply is tight for young house hunters looking for family homes, especially in suburban areas where homes priced like starter homes—yet large enough for families—are scarce,” Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said.

“With baby boomers opting to age in place rather than sell, it’s challenging for younger buyers to find affordable options that fit their lifestyle. But it’s worth noting that even though many older Americans say they’re not planning to sell their homes, many are likely to eventually part ways as it becomes harder to live independently and/or keep up with home maintenance.”

Tackling the Affordability Crisis

Home developers have urged lawmakers to take action to tackle the housing affordability crisis.

Earlier in June, more than 1,000 builders, remodelers, and associates from the construction sector visited Capitol Hill, asking lawmakers to support policies that will “help builders unleash the housing market,” the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said in a June 11 statement.

“The best way to ease the nation’s housing affordability crisis and boost housing production is to break down the barriers that are impeding new home and apartment construction,” NAHB chairman Buddy Hughes said.

Specifically, the NAHB asked Congress to pass legislation preventing the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development from mandating a minimum energy standard for housing, arguing that these measures raise housing costs and price out buyers.

The group also urged lawmakers to consider tax legislation benefiting the construction sector, such as permanently extending the pro-housing and pro-business policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, according to the statement.

As for the pressure created by high mortgage rates on prospective buyers, things could improve this year.

In a June 12 commentary, Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at real estate data company Bright MLS, said she expects mortgage rates to “decline more significantly at the end of the summer, leading up to the Fed’s September meeting.”

“Lower rates could bring more buyers out this fall. But it is becoming more of a possibility that weakening consumer confidence and labor market concerns may cast a long shadow into the fall housing market,” she wrote.

Scott Turner, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in a June 19 X post, “The simple answer to addressing the housing affordability issue: Build more housing.”

Turner proposed building more opportunity zones that “allow our private sector to innovate and cut down costly red tape.”

Opportunity zones, created under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, incentivize people to invest in distressed areas in America, according to an Oct. 8 post by the IRS. “Their purpose is to spur economic growth and job creation in low-income communities while providing tax benefits to investors,” it stated.