The more things change, the more they stay the same, at least when it comes to younger generations’ dreams of homeownership.
Affordability challenges for first-time homebuyers trying to make the push from renting to buying perhaps have never been greater, with median home prices near all-time highs, rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages roughly 200 basis points higher than pre-pandemic levels, and flexible housing costs like property insurance, utilities and taxes surging higher.
Given their coming-of-homebuying-age story is one written by rapid change, the next generation of homebuyers — Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, currently ages 18 to 27 — is now approaching homeownership with “clear eyes,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.
“They know affordability is a major hurdle, but they’re not giving up on the dream of owning a home,” Hale said in a recent report. “Instead, they’re adapting, focusing on career growth, saving early, and being realistic about what they can afford.”
Half of Gen Z respondents to a recent Realtor.com survey ranked career advancement as their life-milestone priority, followed by owning a house, getting married, then having children.
In something of a gender divide, 52% of Gen Z women surveyed seek career advancement first compared to 45% of Gen Z men surveyed. Nearly one-quarter of Gen Z men ranked buying a house as their first milestone compared to only one-fifth of Gen Z women.
Nevertheless, 51% of all respondents reported “high levels of concern” about future housing affordability, with 16% rating housing affordability as one of their top concerns in life. Just 1 in 10 respondents reported low or no concern about housing affordability.
On the affordability side, nearly three-quarters of all respondents said they have begun saving for a downpayment, and one-third said they have (or are taking on) an additional job or side hustle to save for a downpayment.
They generally reported less interest in “making riskier stock or crypto bets, borrowing from parents or family, or taking on a roommate to help defer costs,” the report read.
Nor are they thinking like their investor-buyer counterparts competing for the starter homes typically sought by first-time homebuyers at the lower end of the price spectrum.
Just 9.9% of Gen Z respondents plan to buy a home as an investment property and rent somewhere else. Only 10.5% rank the ability to rent the house and turn a profit as the most important aspect of a home they would consider buying.
That may serve their interest, however, and longer-term mindset about homeownership. In a notable shift, 40% of Gen Z said they would rather delay homebuying until they can purchase a “forever home,” while 30% report plans to buy a starter home and then upgrade.
