First-time home buyers, especially millennials and Gen Xers, are facing an uphill battle when it comes to house hunting. This is in part because of a growing trend in which baby boomers, the generation that owns the largest share of American homes, are planning to stay put—leading to less inventory for new buyers.

However, baby boomer homeownership rates vary across local and state markets. Researchers calculated the percentage of owner-occupied households that are headed by baby boomers, then ranked locations accordingly.

These are the key takeaways from the report for Georgia:

• Baby boomers account for 36.3% of homeowners in Georgia, though they make up only 19.1% of the state’s population.

• Nationally, while baby boomers comprise 20.7% of the population, they account for 37.8% of all U.S. homeowners.

• Overall, Georgia's housing market is less dominated by baby boomers than the nation as a whole.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the share of homeowners over the age of 55 has been steadily increasing. In 2008, at the onset of the Great Recession, Americans over the age of 55 owned 44.3% of homes. By 2021, that percentage had increased to 54.2%. While the share of homeowners under the age of 35 remained fairly steady within the same time span, the share of homeowners between the ages of 35 and 54 decreased from 42.3% to 33.8%. However, in 2022, the 55-and-older cohort ceded a bit of homeownership share—decreasing to 53.6% while homeowners under 35 (12.2%) and 35–54 (34.2%) saw modest increases.

While baby boomers—defined as Americans between the ages of 58 and 76 in 2022—comprise just over 20% of the U.S. population, they account for nearly 38% of homeowners nationwide. Notably, baby boomers dominate the housing market in many New England states, such as New Hampshire (42.5%), Vermont (42.0%), and Maine (41.7%). But Delaware leads all states with 42.7% of homeowners being a part of the baby boomer generation.

By contrast, Midwest states are more likely to have fewer baby boomer homeowners, including North Dakota (35.5%), Nebraska (35.6%), Minnesota (35.7%), and Indiana (36.0%). However, Utah stands alone with only a 30.4% baby boomer homeownership share.

At the metropolitan level, locations in the Northeast like Pittsburgh, PA (40.0%), Rochester, NY (40.0%), and Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY (39.0%) have some of the highest concentrations of baby boomer homeowners. Similarly, major metros in warmer climates also have highly baby boomer-dominant homeownership numbers. Tucson, AZ leads the country with 41.8% of homeowners between ages 58 and 76, while Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (40.0%), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (39.0%), and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL (38.9%) are not far behind.

Below is a complete breakdown of baby boomer homeownership percentages across more than 250 metropolitan areas and all 50 states. The analysis was conducted by researchers at Construction Coverage using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Zillow. For more information, refer to the methodology section.

For the full report visit https://constructioncoverage.com/research/baby-boomer-dominant-housing-markets