Across America, the dream of homeownership is arriving later in life. The National Association of REALTORS® reported that the median age of a first-time homebuyer reached a record 40 years old in 2025, a dramatic increase from previous generations. Rising home prices, higher mortgage rates, and a persistent shortage of housing have forced many Americans to postpone buying their first home.

Houston tells a different story. While no official study publishes the median age of Houston’s first-time homebuyers, local market professionals consistently report that many first-time buyers are in their early to mid-30s—several years younger than the national median reported by the National Association of REALTORS®. Houston’s comparatively affordable housing market helps explain why. The Houston Association of REALTORS® reports that approximately 40% of Houston-area households can afford a median-priced home, compared with 36% nationally, reflecting Houston’s relative affordability among major metropolitan areas.

One of the primary reasons Houston has remained more affordable is that it has never adopted traditional Euclidean zoning like most major American cities. Although Houston regulates subdivision design, floodplains, building codes, infrastructure, setbacks, and many aspects of development, it does not broadly separate land uses through a conventional zoning ordinance. The City of Houston itself notes that it is the nation’s only major city without a zoning code and that many land-use barriers affecting affordable housing elsewhere are not present in Houston. That flexibility has allowed the region to respond more readily to population growth by producing large numbers of new homes and a wider variety of housing types.

Houston is not without challenges. Traffic congestion, infrastructure investment, flooding concerns, and neighborhood compatibility remain important planning issues. Yet the city demonstrates that communities can protect public health and safety while allowing the housing market enough flexibility to meet demand. A robust housing supply has helped Houston remain one of America’s more attainable large metropolitan housing markets, even as many peer cities have seen affordability deteriorate.

As I wrote in Zoned Out, “The purpose of zoning should be to protect people from incompatible land uses—not to protect them from their future neighbors.” Houston’s experience suggests that when communities focus on health, safety, and infrastructure while allowing the private market the flexibility to meet demand, more families have the opportunity to become homeowners earlier in life. Homeownership should not be reserved for those who can wait until forty. It should remain attainable for every hardworking American family.