If you want to lead a profitable brokerage in 2025, you need to know exactly how different generations are buying, selling, and making decisions. The 2025 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report from NAR is a great starting point.
Understanding what motivates each generation to move (or stay put) gives brokerages a competitive edge when it comes to marketing, agent coaching, and tech adoption.
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Who is the 2025 Buyer?
Millennials (26–44): Still leading the way, making up 29% of homebuyers.
Gen X (45–59): 24% of buyers, with the highest incomes and the largest homes.
Baby Boomers (60–78): A massive 42% of buyers and 53% of sellers.
Gen Z (18–25): Just beginning to enter the market (3% buyers), but worth watching.
Silent Generation (79–99): Smallest group (4%), but big on proximity to healthcare and family.
Who’s Selling in 2025?
Baby Boomers are dominating the seller side of the market. Together, Younger and Older Boomers make up over half of all home sellers — that’s 53% in total.
Why does this matter? These are experienced homeowners who’ve likely sold a home before, know the process, and have high expectations for service, strategy, and communication. Gen X follows at 14%, while Millennials make up a much smaller slice at just 7%.
If your listing strategy still centers around newer buyers, it’s time to recalibrate.
Gen Z (18–25): Just 2% of sellers — many are early investors or relocating due to life changes, and often rely heavily on agent guidance.
Millennials (26–44): A smaller portion at 7% of sellers, many are selling their starter homes due to space constraints or job changes.
Gen X (45–59): Account for 14% of sellers. Often upgrading or relocating for lifestyle reasons, and typically selling larger, family homes.
Baby Boomers (60–78): Still driving the market, they make up 53% of all sellers. Motivated by retirement, downsizing, and being closer to family.
Silent Generation (79–99): Represent 3% of sellers. Downsizing or transitioning to senior housing, often selling long-held homes with significant equity.
What’s Driving 2025 Buyers?
Income, motivation and location. Let’s break it down:
Gen X earns the most: Median income of $130K
Younger Millennials are mostly first-time buyers (71%) and highly educated (78% hold a bachelor’s or higher).
Older Boomers and Silent Gen: Motivated by retirement, downsizing, and proximity to healthcare and family.
Gen Z: Low income, not married, buying older homes, and often living with parents pre-purchase.
The Return of Multi-Generational Living
21% of Gen Xers bought multi-gen homes
Motivated by caretaking (28%), kids moving back in (28%), and cost savings (22%)
This trend is key for agent conversations and content marketing — especially when highlighting home features or neighborhood perks.
Why Are Sellers Moving and What Does That Mean for Your Agents?
Sellers 60+ are largely making moves to be closer to family or to simplify their living situation. That often means:
Smaller homes
Lower maintenance
Moving farther away from where they currently live
Millennials, by contrast, are selling because they’ve outgrown their space or are relocating for work. For Boomers, it’s deeply personal. And that means agents need a storytelling-first approach to listing presentations — not just a price tag and a “For Sale” sign.
What Types of Homes Are Being Listed?
Boomers are listing homes that are older (often built around 1999), larger, and located farther from where they plan to buy next. That means these listings often need:
Pre-market prep and staging
Clear pricing guidance
Compelling, professional marketing
That’s where MoxiImpress earns it keep. Agents need a way to automate listing marketing without sacrificing quality. Every listing deserves the white-glove treatment — especially those owned by long-term, equity-rich homeowners.
What Do Sellers Want From Their Agent?
Sellers aren’t just looking for someone to help with the paperwork. They want an agent who will:
Price their home strategically
Help them get the most value out of it
Market it with professionalism and polish
Help them hit a timeline that works for their life
Pro Tip: Use tools like MoxiPresent + MoxiImpress to win these listings and market like a top producer. These tools make your agents look polished and help them win trust quickly, which is critical with more experienced sellers.
Real Estate Trends in Housing Preferences
Most buyers compromise on: price (30%), condition (23%), and size (22%)
Top environmental concerns: heating/cooling costs (33%), commuting costs (40% for Millennials), and windows/siding
Millennials care more about commuting and affordability. Older buyers care more about senior-friendly features and low-maintenance homes.
Referrals and Repeat Agents are Leading the Way
Here’s the stat that every brokerage needs to engrain into their business development DNA:
74% of sellers worked with a repeat or referred agent.
Not only that, the older the seller, the more likely they are to return to someone they know and trust.
This is why relationship-building tools like MoxiEngage and ActivePipe are so important. It’s not about chasing new leads 24/7. It’s about nurturing the ones your agents already have.
Seller Snapshot — Fast Facts
Let’s round it out with a few takeaways from the seller side of the report:
16 years = average tenure before selling
Most listings are detached single-family homes
Couples are making the decisions — not individuals
Older sellers move farther — up to 35 miles away
Seller loyalty is strong — nearly 3 in 4 would use the same agent again
When agents are equipped with the right tools, the right stories, and the right timing, they don’t just win a listing. They win a client for life.
So, What Should Brokerages Do With This Info?
Here’s how forward-thinking brokerages can use this data to drive results:
Modernize Marketing with MoxiImpressMillennials want value and convenience. Show them polished, consistent branding with automated listing marketing they can trust.
Create Personalized Presentations with MoxiPresentBoomers care about proximity and lifestyle. Use data-driven CMAs and buyer tours to tell the right story for every generation.
Use MoxiEngage and ActivePipe to Build Lifelong RelationshipsThe diversity of buyer motivations makes CRM and marketing personalization crucial. Build agent pipelines based on behavior, not assumptions.
Nurture Every Segment with ActivePipeSegment leads by generation and behavior. Automated, relevant newsletters help maintain trust — especially across long homeownership timelines.
The 2025 NAR Generational Trends Report makes one thing clear: Real estate isn’t one-size-fits-all. Smart brokerages are tailoring their marketing, tech, and agent coaching to meet generational expectations — not just industry trends.
