REAL ESTATE
Delaying Housing Milestones
Young people are buying homes later than their peers four decades back
United States, Total
Less than 25 years 25 to 29 years 30 to 34 years 35 to 39 years 40 to 44 years 45 to 49 years 50 to 54 years 55 to 59 years 60 to 64 years 65 to 69 years 70 to 74 years
75 years and over
Source: US Census Bureau
1982
19.3 % 38.6 %
57.1 %
64.8 %
67.6 % 73.0 % 76.0 % 78.8 % 80.0 % 80.1 % 77.9 % 75.2 % 71.0 %
Chasing Home Prices
Wage increases have finally pushed ahead of house price gains
2024
23.0 % 33.5 %
47.4 % 57.9 %
65.6 %
65.8 %
68.2 % 72.9 % 75.1 % 77.0 % 78.8 % 80.9 %
78.0 %
Note: Homeownership rates for the US by age of householder
— Average hourly private earnings YoY— S & P Cotality Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index
20 %
15
10
5
0
Housing’ s Inevitable Demographic Shift
Gen Z will be in its prime first-home buying years as homeownership among baby boomers recedes
% of population living in own home
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Source: S & P Dow Jones Indices, Bureau of Labor Statistics
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l 65 67 69 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 81 82 84 86 87 89
Age in 2025
Source: John Burns Research Consulting LLC tabulations of US Census Bureau data
Note: Data are seasonally adjusted
80 %
70
60
50
Admittedly, the vibes around housing and affordability are bad today. But we’ ve been here before.
In the early 2010s, it was millennials who were struggling economically and disillusioned with homeownership, albeit for different reasons. Back then, the unemployment rate for 25-to-29-year-olds was north of 10 %, nearly double what it is today. Good jobs were hard to get and concentrated in cities, where homes are always out of reach for young people. It was hard to save a down payment in the wake of the 2008 Great Recession, and many parents had been too devastated financially to offer help. Even for those who could buy, the price collapse in the late 2000s and a shaky labor market meant that tying oneself to a house wasn’ t necessarily a wise career or financial move.
In the ensuing decade and a half, the majority of those millennials did buy homes— the homeownership rate for 40-to-44-year-olds in 2024 was 65.8 %, according to the Census Bureau.
The outlook for Gen Z over the next 10 to 15 years is even better. Starting affordability is worse, sure, but baby boomers were a headwind for millennials, whereas they are a tailwind for Gen Z. Additionally, politicians across parties are talking about making housing more abundant and affordable, so much so that Lennar Corp., the second-largest U. S. home builder, pointed to“ government action” as an important factor for the market in 2026.
Gen Z also has time on its side. Even in the 1990s, perhaps the best time ever to buy a home, the homeownership rate of 25-to-29-year-olds was around 35 %. With each generation delaying adult milestones, buying a home in your early 30s seems reasonable now. There’ s a pretty good chance that we’ ll be back at tolerable levels of affordability once Gen Zers reach that age.
So, if you’ re in your 20s and pessimistic about buying into the American dream, cheer up, your time will come— and maybe pull some money out of crypto to start saving for that down payment.
CONOR SEN is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is founder of Peachtree Creek Investments.
50 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2026 WWW. FA-MAG. COM