Boomers to Zoomers: Age-Proof Strategies for Selling Homes

Buyers of every generation, from Baby Boomers to the Gen Z buyers nicknamed Zoomers, rate a listing's photos and floor plan among its most useful parts, and they part ways over what they need around the home, from a short commute to a nearby clinic. A listing that shows the whole house and names what is close to it works for all of them, because each buyer finds their own reasons in it.

Boomers to Zoomers in NAR's Figures

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) surveys recent US buyers every year and breaks the answers down by generation. In its 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, on homes bought between July 2024 and June 2025, Baby Boomers made up 42% of buyers, Millennials 26%, Gen X 25% and Gen Z 4%. The full 2026 report is for NAR members, so the detail by age comes from the 2025 edition, which covers purchases from July 2023 to June 2024. NAR dates each generation by year of birth, and some of its lines fall differently from other definitions: its Gen X ends in 1979 and its Gen Z begins in 1999.

Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964)

Most Boomers have bought a home before. Fewer than one in ten were first-time buyers in the 2026 report, and NAR found that older buyers pay the down payment on the next home from the sale of the last. Their reasons for moving are about the life around the house: to be closer to friends and family, because they have retired, or for a smaller home.

Moving closer to family can still mean moving a long way. In the 2025 report, buyers aged 60 and over moved a median of 35 miles from their previous home, the furthest of any age group. A buyer moving that far may not know the area yet, so the listing has to explain it. About a quarter of Older Boomers bought in senior-related housing, so where a home is part of such a community, the listing should say what it offers.

They also know what they are looking at. Buyers over 60 were the most likely to say they had made no compromises on the home they bought, and Younger Boomers viewed more homes than most other groups before choosing. A considered asking price, faults stated up front and full answers to questions suit buyers who have been through a sale before.

Gen X (1965 to 1979)

Gen X buyers had the highest household incomes of any generation in the 2025 report and, with Older Millennials, bought the largest homes. They were also the most likely to buy a multigenerational home, one shared with adult relatives such as parents or grown children, about one in five of them, and more of them than of any other group bought because they wanted a home in a better area.

The 2026 report shows that changing. Older Millennials overtook Gen X on income and home size, and NAR's deputy chief economist described Gen X as looking increasingly towards an empty nest and retirement. A Gen X buyer may want more room or less, which is a good reason to describe what the rooms are and how they connect, and leave the buyer to judge who would use them.

Running costs weigh with this group. Heating and cooling costs were the environmental feature buyers most often rated very important, and Gen X buyers did so more than any other age group. Among Gen X buyers of new homes, the most common reason was to avoid renovations and problems with plumbing or electricity. New windows, a recent boiler, a refitted kitchen or bathroom and rewiring all belong in the listing.

Millennials (1980 to 1998)

NAR splits Millennials into two groups. By 2026, most Younger Millennials, born from 1990, were still buying their first home. Older Millennials had become move-up buyers: the highest earners of any generation, buying the largest homes, and the most likely to have children living with them.

Work and the journey to it shape where millennial home buyers look. Being close to their job mattered to more of them than to any older group, and commuting costs mattered to them more than any other environmental feature. About a third of buyers aged 35 to 44 weighed the school district, more than in any other group.

Few Millennials bought new, about one in ten. Younger Millennials bought some of the oldest homes, typically built around 1980, and those who chose a previously owned home most often gave a better price as the reason, with more than a quarter naming its charm and character. Only a few wanted a fixer-upper to work on themselves, so a home's period details and its potential are worth showing next to an honest account of what needs doing.

Gen Z (1999 to 2011)

Gen Z is the youngest group of buyers and, with the Silent Generation, the smallest. In the 2025 report they had the lowest incomes of all buyers; most were buying for the first time, and few were married or had children at home. In the 2026 report they had the highest shares of single women and of unmarried couples among buyers.

Price comes first for them. Half of Gen Z buyers, and of Younger Millennials, named overall affordability as a reason for their choice of neighbourhood, and Gen Z buyers of older homes most often chose them for the better price. The same plain description of a home's condition helps them weigh the asking price against the work it needs.

What Every Generation Looks For in a Listing

Buyers of every age judge a listing by the same parts. Among buyers who searched online in the 2025 report, most buyers in every age group rated photos very useful, and about half or more said the same of floor plans. Detailed information about the property came second only to photos in every group. A listing without a floor plan leaves out something about half of every generation rates very useful.

The neighbourhood matters at every age too: about half or more of the buyers in each group named its quality as a reason for where they bought. The differences lie in how buyers reach the home. Older buyers more often found their home through an agent and more often rated the agent's contact details very useful. Buyers in their sixties and seventies also used online video sites in their search more than buyers under 35 did. So the agent's details belong wherever the listing appears, and the home is worth a video as well as photos.

The preparation doesn't change with age either. Clear away clutter and personal things and clean the home before it is photographed. State any problems with the property accurately in the listing, which builds trust at any age, and answer buyers' questions quickly and clearly.

Describing the Home, Not the Buyer

The places around a home count for buyers of different ages in almost opposite ways. In the 2025 report, being convenient to a job was a reason for the choice of neighbourhood for 64% of buyers aged 26 to 34 and for 5% of those aged 70 to 78, while convenience to health facilities mattered to about a third of the older group and to few of the younger. A listing can't know which of them will read it, so the description names the places with their distances: the station or the drive to the nearest business district, the schools, clinics and hospitals, shops and parks.

The home's features go in the same way. Everything on one floor, a bedroom and bathroom at ground level, a step-free entrance, a room that works as an office, a second living area, new windows: each is a fact about the house, and each buyer decides which ones matter to them.

Describing the home this way also keeps the listing within US fair housing law. Age is not one of the characteristics the Fair Housing Act protects, but familial status and sex are, and HUD's advertising rule bars wording that indicates a preference for or against buyers on those grounds, so the description says what the home and its surroundings are and nothing about who should live there.

A Listing Each Buyer Can Read for Themselves

One visit with the Giraffe360 camera captures the photos, the tour and the measurements a floor plan is drawn from. In the floor plan editor, Room measurements under Settings shows each room's dimensions or its area, so a buyer comparing homes from a distance can read the size of every room at a glance.

The places come next. Property Description writes a draft from the home's details and its address: on its Location tab you review or add the places around the home before generating, then check every claim about the area before you save. The property website shows nearby places on a map, and in its editor you choose which nearby places appear and rename them, beside the Details section and a Floor Plan section that opens in 2D or 3D.

For buyers who want to talk to someone, the virtual tour carries the agent's name, phone number, email and photo in its Info panel, and Info, then Contact form, lets a buyer send an enquiry without leaving the tour, with the Email, Phone and Message fields you choose to show. For buyers who watch homes on video sites, the video editor builds a video of the home from the project's content. Its Voiceover tab turns text you write into narration, and Closed captions in Settings puts the words on screen, so the video can be followed with the sound off.