PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The average age of a first-time home buyer in the United States has reached 40 years old, the oldest on record, according to a new study.

First-time homebuyers now make up just 21% of the market, which is the lowest since 1981, the study from the National Association of Realtors found. It also found a record 26% of buyers purchased homes with cash only, while repeat buyers averaged a record 62 years old.

Valley realtor Sindy Ready said the market is heating up this fall as temperatures cool down, and she has noticed changes in her clientele.

Ready described a “perfect storm” of factors contributing to older first-time homebuyers and cash buyers flooding the market over millennials and Gen Z buyers.

“Some of those homebuyers got caught up in a feeding frenzy in the

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