New data shows active military and veterans have vastly different paths to homeownership.
Military households have been a consistent part of the housing market for a decade, but active duty military and veterans take surprisingly different routes to homeownership.
That’s according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, which revealed that military buyers accounted for 19% of all home buyers in 2025. The data, released just before Memorial Day during the country’s Military Appreciation Month, shows a disparity between the two groups in age, motivation, financial resources and how far they will go to make purchases.
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Active buyers are younger (average age 38), more likely to purchase during a work-related relocation (32 percent), and purchase farther from home than any other group, with 41 percent moving more than 500 miles. Most (56%) purchased in the suburbs. Their homes had a median size of 2,000 square feet and four bedrooms, one more than the overall market median. More than six in 10 (61%) had children under 18 at home.
Veterans presented different profiles. At a median age of 64, they were overwhelmingly repeat buyers (88%) and more likely to cite proximity to friends and family rather than relocation as their primary motivation (19%). Only 19% had children under 18 in their household.
VA funding supported both groups. In 2025, 69% of active-duty buyers and 55% of veterans took out VA loans. More than one-third (36%) of active-duty buyers and more than one-quarter (28%) of veterans purchased with no down payment, a benefit that dates back to the Military Readjustment Act of 1944, which created the VA home loan program.
NAR also noted the generational gap in veteran representation. Silent generation buyers (ages 80-100) had the highest percentage of veterans at 43%, followed by older baby boomers (ages 71-79) at 28%, likely reflecting the draft era. Among younger Millennials (ages 27-35), the percentage of veterans dropped to 7%.
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