What percentage of homebuyers in 2025 have no children under 18 at home? According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 76% of homebuyers had no children under 18 living at home in 2025 — the highest share ever recorded and a major shift shaping how homes should be marketed across North Texas.
The buyer walking through your front door has probably changed
For decades, the default picture of an American homebuyer was a married couple with a kid or two, hunting for a yard, a bonus room, and a short drive to school pickup. That picture is outdated.
In the newest NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, only 24% of people who bought a home in the last year had a child under 18 in the household. In 1985, that number was 58%. The typical buyer today is 59 years old, and the typical repeat buyer is 62. If you're selling a home in Sachse, Wylie, Murphy, Lavon, or anywhere else across our Collin, Rockwall, Hunt, Kaufman, and Dallas County markets, this matters more than most sellers realize.
Here's what's actually happening in the market — and what it means when you list your home.
What the data actually says
Three data points from the 2025 NAR report tell the story:
- 76% of buyers have no children under 18 at home — an all-time high, up from 73% last year.
- The median homebuyer is now 59 years old — also an all-time high, up from 56 last year.
- 25% of recent buyers were between 65 and 74, and another 20% were between 55 and 64.
Put those together, and the North Texas buyer pool looks very different than it did even five years ago. Nearly half of all homebuyers right now are over 55. The share of homebuyers who are married couples dropped to 61%. Single women made up 21% of buyers — more than double the share of single men.
Why the shift is happening
A few forces are pushing this trend at once:
Birth rates are down. Fewer households have young kids than at any point in modern U.S. history, according to data from Pew Research. That trend shows up in the buyer pool.
First-time buyers are being pushed out. The share of first-time buyers dropped to 21% — the lowest ever recorded. The people who historically bought starter homes with young kids are priced out, waiting longer, or still renting. The median first-time buyer is now 40 years old.
Repeat buyers are older, wealthier, and moving for different reasons. Half of repeat buyers are over 62. The top reason they're buying isn't school districts or commutes — it's being closer to friends and family (19%).
Return-to-work policies aren't bringing back the commute. The share of buyers who said proximity to their job was important has dropped from 52% in 2014 to just 31% today. That tells us even working-age buyers aren't anchored to the same neighborhoods they used to be.
What this means if you're selling in North Texas
If you're preparing to list a home in Sachse, Wylie, Murphy, Royse City, or anywhere in the broader Dallas-Collin-Rockwall market, the takeaway isn't that families don't matter — they still do. The takeaway is that the person writing the strongest offer on your home is statistically more likely to be in their late 50s or 60s than in their mid-30s with a stroller in the garage.
That changes how a home should be presented:
Stop marketing only to families
The old playbook of "great bonus room for the kids" and "walk to the park" still works for some listings. But if your home sits on a one-story floor plan, has low-maintenance landscaping, or is close to shopping and medical offices, those are the features to lead with now. Those are the features today's largest buyer group is actually shopping for.
Think about the 14% buying multi-generational
Fourteen percent of buyers purchased a multi-generational home this year — meaning adult siblings, adult children, parents, or grandparents living under one roof. The top reasons were caring for aging parents (41%) and cost savings (29%). If your home has a guest suite, a separate living area, or a private entrance, that's a serious selling point in North Texas right now. Don't bury it.
One-story and low-maintenance are winning
Repeat buyers over 60 are actively shopping for homes they can age into. Single-story floor plans, walk-in showers, wide hallways, and yards that don't need much maintenance aren't just nice-to-haves anymore — they're often the deciding factor. If your home has them, say so clearly in the listing. If it doesn't, your agent should be pricing and positioning accordingly.
Distance is flexible
The median buyer in 2025 moved 20 miles from where they previously lived. That's a bigger radius than a young family would typically consider. A home in Royse City, Lavon, or Van Alstyne can absolutely attract a buyer from Plano or East Dallas — the geographic pool is wider than sellers assume.
What doesn't change
A few things are still true no matter who's buying:
- Pricing still wins. Homes sold for a median of 99% of list price this year, and time on market ticked up to four weeks — one week longer than last year. Overpricing costs you real time and real money.
- Presentation matters more, not less. Older buyers and repeat buyers know what a well-maintained home looks like. They've owned homes for a median of 11 years before listing — an all-time high. They notice.
- 91% of sellers used an agent — also an all-time high. The complexity of marketing to a shifting buyer pool is a big part of why.
FAQ
Are families still buying homes in North Texas? Yes — families are still an important part of the buyer pool, especially in communities like Wylie, Sachse, and Murphy. But only 24% of all homebuyers have children under 18 at home, and that share has been declining for decades. Families are one important audience, not the default one.
Should I still stage my home with kid-friendly features? It depends on the home and the neighborhood. If your home has strong family-oriented features — big yards, playrooms, bonus spaces — leaning into them still makes sense. But for many North Texas homes, staging that highlights flexibility (a home office, a guest suite, a low-maintenance yard) will reach a broader buyer pool.
What's the typical homebuyer in North Texas right now? The national median buyer is 59 years old, with no children under 18 at home, and the typical repeat buyer is 62. North Texas tracks closely with national trends, though communities with strong school zones still attract more younger families than the average.
The bottom line
The buyer pool has changed. Most of the people touring your home do not have kids in tow, and many of them are making a move late in life they've been thinking about for years. Marketing your home to the buyer of 2005 leaves money on the table in 2026.
If you want to see how this plays out for your specific home and neighborhood, follow along — Jeanie Marten Real Estate publishes regular market updates for North Texas sellers, or bookmark the blog and check back.
