Many people grew up with the American Dream of one day having a stable job, starting a family, and owning a home with a white picket fence. But that vision has become a fantasy for Gen Z as homeownership continues to slip out of reach.
That’s because the share of first-time home buyers hit an all-time low last year since the National Association of Realtors began tracking data in 1981. The approximately 1.14 million new purchasers only represented 24% of the market share, down from 32% in 2023, according to a report from the NAR.
Not only are fewer Americans buying new houses, but homeowners are also ageing up.
In the 1980’s, the typical home buyer was in their late 20s: a full decade younger than today’s cohort. Today, the median first-time buyer age increased to 38 years old in 2024, compared to 35 the year before, which the report says “underscores the hurdles to entering the housing market.”
Gen Z, who are unemployed and debt-ridden, may have to wait even longer to get on the property ladder—that is, if they manage to get on it at all.
Why the American Dream of homeownership is dying for Gen Z
Just five decades ago, owning a home and achieving financial security was a reality for many in their 20s. But Gen Z have faced unique economic and market challenges that are holding them back from stable housing.
“Each year provides new opportunities and challenges for buyers and sellers,” the report says. “This year highlights the difficulty home buyers face amid a housing affordability crisis with limited housing inventory.”
Mortgage rates are still very high at around 7%, while the median-price of a home is currently more than $422,000, according to data from the NAR. But it’s hard for Gen Z to even shell out for a down-payment, when millions are locked out of the workforce.
Around 58% of students who graduated in the past year are still looking for their first job, compared to just 25% of previous graduates, including millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers. With only 12% of Gen Z landing full-time work around their graduation ceremony, many are forced to spend as long as a year applying to roles in a tough job market, with some young people applying to more than 1,700 positions. This has left many Gen Z graduates in NEET status: not in employment, education, or training.
And even those who are lucky enough to get a job, research shows that recent graduates only earn $68,400 annually—all the while carrying an average of $94,000 in personal debt on their backs.
Baby boomers hold the keys to Gen Z’s home ownership prospects
Even if Gen Z could afford their own home, there simply aren’t enough homes to go around. The U.S. market was short 4.9 million housing units in 2023 relative to the mid-2000s, according to data from Brookings. Meanwhile, only 1.45 million new homes were completed that year—and baby boomers are snapping many of those up.
The older generation currently represents about 42% of all homebuyers, up from 31% last year, as they continue to dominate the U.S. housing market. But baby boomers aren’t just buying one house to live in during retirement—they’re purchasing several homes at a higher rate than their millennial home-buyer counterparts. The median age of repeat buyers reached a historic high at 61 last year.
But the American Dream might not be over for Gen Z—just very delayed. In a couple decades, Gen Z could be living a completely different lifestyle. The young generation held just $9 trillion in income a couple years ago; but by 2030, they’re expected to bring in $36 trillion, and by 2040, that number rises to $74 trillion.
That’ll make Gen Z the richest generation in the next 20 years; Just, they’ll be coming into wealth as they turn 50, compared to the baby boomers who bought their first homes in their 20s.
