Older Co-Applicants Listed in About 1 in 30 Under-35 Mortgage Originations

Older co-applicants appeared in about one in 30 2025 purchase mortgage originations with a primary applicant under 35, a 21% increase in the share since 2018.

Rocket Companies released its analysis Tuesday, Oct. 27, using mortgage-origination records from 2018 through 2025. The share rose from about one in 36 in 2018 to about one in 30 in 2025, while the number of originations with a primary applicant under 35 fell 15% over the period.

The measure counts applications with a primary applicant younger than 35 and a co-applicant age 55 or older. The share varied by metro area: In Anaheim, about one in 13 under-35 buyers listed an older co-applicant in 2025. In Virginia Beach, the figure was about one in 50.

The records track applicants’ ages but do not establish whether a co-applicant was a parent or another relative. They also do not show whether money or other assets changed hands.

Separate surveys asked buyers about down-payment help. Among mortgage buyers surveyed in 2026, 45% of Gen Z respondents and 34% of millennials said they used a gift or loan from family or friends. In a separate survey of homeowners, 78% of Gen Z respondents, 56% of millennials and 12% of baby boomers said they received help with the down payment on their current home.

The homeowner survey was conducted online with 2,060 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 80, using a nonprobability sample fielded March 17-23, 2026. The two surveys asked different questions of different groups. Their results are not directly comparable with mortgage-application records, which track ages rather than reported financial help.

First-time buyers made up 21% of buyers in a 2025 survey, and their median age was 40. The survey received 6,103 responses from buyers who purchased primary residences between July 2024 and June 2025. Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors, said, “The share of first-time buyers in the market has contracted by 50% since 2007 — right before the Great Recession.”