Good morning, NREB readers.

As always, we're here to keep real estate professionals informed while cutting out the fluff. Let's get right into it.

Now, to today's housing story.

When an older homeowner says they are thinking about selling, there is an assumption that often arrives before the listing appointment does:

They're probably downsizing.

Smaller house.

Less maintenance.

Maybe a condo.

Maybe a retirement community.

Maybe a move somewhere warmer.

Sometimes that is exactly what happens.

But the National Association of REALTORS®' latest Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows a much less predictable seller.

Among recent home sellers who went on to purchase another property:

50% bought a newer home.

And:

34% bought a larger home.

One in three sellers moved into more house, not less.

That is worth remembering after the last two editions.

On Monday, we looked at Baby Boomers accounting for 55% of sellers and 42% of buyers.

On Wednesday, we looked at homeowners remaining in their properties for roughly 12 years nationally.

Today completes the picture:

Long ownership and an older seller population do not tell you what the seller wants next.

The typical home seller in NAR's latest annual profile is 64 years old, the highest median age the organization has recorded.

The typical seller had also owned the property for 11 years before selling.

That combination makes the downsizing assumption understandable.

At 64, many people have adult children.

They may be approaching or already entering retirement.

The house may contain rooms they no longer use every day.

Maintenance may feel less appealing than it once did.

But age alone does not tell you what changed in someone's life.

A 64-year-old could be:

retiring,

still working,

remarrying,

moving closer to grandchildren,

combining households,

helping an aging parent,

buying space for adult children,

relocating to a less expensive market,

moving from a two-story property to a larger single-story home,

or finally buying the house they wanted after decades of building equity.

"Older seller" describes an age.

It does not describe a housing objective.

The 34% who purchased a larger home deserve some context.

A larger property does not automatically mean a more expensive one.

Housing costs vary dramatically between neighborhoods, cities and states.

Someone can sell a smaller home in a high-cost market and purchase substantially more square footage somewhere less expensive.

NAR's migration research shows that recent movers frequently cite being closer to family and friends and getting more home for the money as reasons for choosing a new area.

Among REALTORS®' recent relocating clients, additional square footage was also one of the most common characteristics influencing the choice of a particular property.

That makes "upsizing" more complicated than simply spending more.

A seller can:

move farther from a major city,

change states,

move into a lower-cost metro,

or choose a different property type,

and end up with more space without dramatically increasing the housing budget.

In some cases, the move is less about buying a more expensive home and more about redeploying existing housing wealth somewhere it buys more.

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This week's articles have repeatedly come back to one word:

equity.

The longer someone owns a home, the more opportunity they generally have to reduce the mortgage balance and participate in whatever price appreciation occurred during that period.

NAR reports that 54% of repeat buyers used proceeds from the sale of a previous home toward their next purchase.

Nearly one in three repeat buyers purchased entirely with cash.

That creates flexibility.

A seller who walks away from closing with substantial equity may have options a first-time buyer simply does not.

They may be able to:

buy a newer property,

buy a larger property,

make a much larger down payment,

purchase without financing,

or move into a market where their equity stretches much farther.

That helps explain why today's older seller can simultaneously be the buyer of tomorrow's larger home.

Selling is not always an exit from housing.

Often, it is a repositioning of housing wealth.

The other number may be even more revealing:

50% of sellers purchased a newer home.

That does not mean half bought brand-new construction.

It means age and condition of the next property matter to sellers.

And after spending 10, 15, or 20 years in one house, it is easy to understand why.

Older homes require maintenance.

Systems reach replacement cycles.

Roofs age.

HVAC equipment ages.

Exterior work accumulates.

Bathrooms and kitchens wear.

Even a very well-maintained house requires attention.

A seller may not want fewer square feet.

They may simply want newer square feet.

Imagine someone leaving a 2,200-square-foot home built in 1975 for a 2,500-square-foot home built in 2020.

They moved larger.

They also may have reduced the amount of near-term maintenance they expect to manage.

That is not traditional downsizing.

It can still be a move toward simplicity.

This is where the vocabulary can mislead us.

"Downsizing" usually refers to size.

But what many homeowners actually want is a better fit.

A homeowner could move into a house with the same square footage but:

one level instead of two,

a smaller yard,

newer systems,

better accessibility,

closer family,

a quieter neighborhood,

or a location with lower taxes.

Another could buy a larger property because they want:

a home office,

guest rooms,

space for grandchildren,

a workshop,

multigenerational living,

or simply more distance between rooms after years in a smaller house.

One move is not automatically more rational because it involves fewer square feet.

The relevant question is whether the next property fits the next stage of the owner's life.

This matters at the listing appointment.

An agent can spend an enormous amount of time asking about the house being sold:

What improvements have you made?

When was the roof replaced?

What do you think the property is worth?

When would you like to list?

All important questions.

But the transaction can make much more sense after one additional question:

Why are you moving?

And then:

What does the next home need to do that this one doesn't?

Those answers can affect nearly everything.

The seller's timeline.

How much certainty matters.

Whether they need proceeds before purchasing.

Whether they can tolerate a long closing.

How much preparation they want to do.

Whether they need temporary housing.

Whether they are moving locally or hundreds of miles away.

Whether a particular offer's timing is more valuable than another offer's price.

The listing is only one side of the seller's housing decision.

Wednesday's tenure data add another layer.

Someone who has lived in the same home for 12 years may not have purchased real estate since 2014.

Someone with 20-year tenure last bought around 2006.

Think about how much has changed.

Search happens differently.

Contracts may look different.

Financing conditions are different.

Technology is different.

Market norms have changed.

The homeowner may be highly experienced in life and financially sophisticated while still feeling like a beginner in today's housing transaction.

That becomes even more relevant when the seller is simultaneously becoming a buyer.

They know their existing property extremely well.

They may know very little about the market they are entering.

The assumption that a repeat buyer "already knows how this works" can therefore be just as misleading as assuming an older seller wants a smaller house.

There is also a tendency to search for a problem:

House too large.

Taxes too high.

Maintenance too difficult.

Neighborhood changed.

Mortgage too expensive.

Sometimes there is a problem.

Other times, the seller simply sees an opportunity.

Their equity has grown.

Their income changed.

Their family changed.

Their work became more flexible.

A different city offers more house for the money.

They want to live near people they care about.

The next property is more attractive than staying put.

That matters because selling motivation affects behavior.

A homeowner who must sell operates differently from one who would sell for the right next move.

Understanding which client is sitting across from you can be more important than any national market statistic.

Monday's Boomer data deserve the same warning.

Baby Boomers are now an enormous force in housing, but they are not one buyer profile.

NAR's research on buyers over 60 found that many do move into somewhat smaller homes on average.

Senior-related housing is also important for part of the population.

But the typical older buyer still frequently chooses a detached single-family home.

That is the point.

Averages describe populations.

Clients arrive one at a time.

An agent who assumes:

may be starting the conversation with an answer instead of a question.

A better starting point is:

The answer could be less house.

It could also be more.

There is a broader market implication too.

We often ask homeowners why they will not sell their existing home.

The answer is not always simply the mortgage rate.

Sometimes they cannot find the replacement property that makes leaving worthwhile.

A homeowner may have:

a low mortgage,

a familiar neighborhood,

substantial equity,

and a house that basically works.

Selling requires replacing all of that with something sufficiently better.

If the next home does not improve the owner's situation—through location, condition, size, lifestyle, family access, or cost—then staying put can be perfectly rational.

That ties this week's three articles together.

Boomers control a large share of listings.

Homeowners stay for a long time.

And when they finally sell, their next move is far more varied than "downsizing."

The housing market needs to offer those owners a compelling destination before many of them become inventory.

There is a simple takeaway for agents.

When a homeowner talks about selling, learn about the next home early.

Not because the agent should dictate what they buy.

Because the next home often explains the entire transaction.

Ask:

What would you like to be different?

Do you want newer, smaller, larger, closer, quieter or easier?

Are you staying local?

Does family influence the move?

Do you need the proceeds from this home to purchase the next?

Is the next property's condition important?

What would make you decide staying here is actually the better choice?

Those answers help turn "seller lead" into an actual understanding of the client's move.

This week's numbers looked straightforward individually.

55% of sellers are Baby Boomers.

The typical homeowner stays roughly 12 years.

34% of sellers who purchased again bought a larger home, while 50% bought newer.

Put them together and the picture becomes much more interesting.

Today's seller is older.

They often have meaningful equity.

They may have occupied the same property for a decade or longer.

But none of that tells you whether they want a condo, a bigger house, a newer house, another state, a multigenerational property, or something remarkably similar to what they already own.

The seller is not necessarily leaving housing behind.

Often, they are taking years of accumulated housing wealth and repositioning it around the life they want next.

So before assuming the empty nest means a smaller nest, ask the question.

What are they actually moving toward?

The answer may surprise you.

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The 34% larger-home and 50% newer-home figures describe recent sellers in NAR's 2025 Profile who purchased another home and should not be interpreted to mean that every seller moves larger or newer. National survey findings describe broad population behavior; individual seller motivations, finances, housing needs and next-home preferences vary substantially.