The American dream of homeownership looks very different depending on when you were born, and new data lays bare just how stark that divide has become, writes Sami Sparber for Axios.
Baby Boomers are sitting on a mountain of real estate compared to younger generations. A Redfin analysis of 2024 census data found that boomer empty nesters (couples whose children have grown and moved out) hold 28% of three-plus bedroom homes in the U.S.
Millennial parents, by comparison, own just 16% of those same family-sized homes, and Gen Z parents just 1%.
Boomer homeowners have also benefited from decades of rising home values, building equity and wealth from homes that have often doubled or tripled in value since they were purchased.
For millennials, the path to a front door of their own has been an uphill climb. Student loan debt, rising home prices, and spiking mortgage rates continue to pose serious barriers.
A tight housing supply has made matters worse for both millennial and Gen Z homebuyers, who are competing for a shrinking pool of affordable starter homes.
Still, millennials have made incremental gains: their homeownership rate climbed from 5% in 2014 to 16% in 2024.
One potential shift appears on the horizon: as boomers age and eventually put their homes on the market, a wave of inventory could reshape the landscape. Whether younger buyers will be positioned to seize that moment is the open question hanging over the market.
Learn more about generational differences in homeownership in Axios.
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