Why Las Vegas has some of the oldest homeowners in the country

The Las Vegas Valley has some of the oldest homeowners in the country, according to a new report.

The valley ranked fifth in the country, behind Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami and San Francisco in a new report from LendingTree, which pulled data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report estimates that the average homeowner in the valley is approximately 53 years old, while the average renter is 45. The average age of the overall population in the metro region is estimated to be 39, according to the report.

The average age of a homeowner in the largest 50 metro regions across the country is approximately 50 years old, and the average renter in America is 44 years old. The average age of a person in the U.S. is 39.

Joshua Driskell, the lead researcher on the LendingTree report, said there is a clear cut reason the valley has a lot of older people who own property.

“Las Vegas has more older homeowners in part because it’s such a popular retirement destination. The lower cost of living compared to many other big cities, along with the warm weather and lifestyle, makes it especially appealing for older Americans, and that shows up clearly in the data.”

In a recent Redfin report the number of owner-occupied households in the country fell 0.1 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2025 to approximately 86.2 million. This is the first time that number has declined since 2016 while the number of rental households rose 2.6 percent over the same time frame to an estimated 46.4 million, which is one of the largest quarterly increases in the past few years. Redfin also pulls its data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

This is clearly a sign of the times, said Redfin’s head of economic research Chen Zhao.

“America’s homeowner population is no longer growing because rising home prices, high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty have made it increasingly difficult to own a home,” she said. “People are also getting married and starting families later, which means they’re buying homes later—another factor that may be at play.”

Starter homes for first-time homebuyers have become increasingly more difficult to buy since mortgage rates shot up in 2022 when inflation skyrocketed coming out of the pandemic. The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most standard mortgage in the country, has not gone below 6 percent since September 2022.

LendingTree’s chief consumer finance analyst Matt Schulz said the dream of home ownership is increasingly becoming an old person’s game.

“Homeownership is becoming less and less of a young person’s game, so it should be no surprise that the average homeowner in America’s biggest cities is now 50 or older,” he said. “The cost of owning a home has risen so dramatically over the years that, for many younger people, it’s simply out of reach. Unfortunately, that reality isn’t likely to change anytime soon.”

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.