Housing affordability by generation

Housing affordability by generation

More young Americans are becoming homeowners—but don’t call it a comeback just yet.

According to a new Redfin Real Estate analysis, the homeownership rate for Gen Zers and millennials rose from 2024 to 2025 as affordability and inventory improved slightly. More than one-quarter (27.1%) of Gen Zers nationwide owned their home in 2025, up from 26.1% a year earlier. Millennials also eked out a gain, with their homeownership rate rising to 55.4% from 54.9%.

The bump in homeownership for Gen Zers is meaningful but not explosive, and for millennials it mostly reflects stability. While 20- and 30-somethings made up a bigger piece of the homebuying pie in 2025 than they did the year before, the gains were modest. Both generations are still, unfortunately, tracking behind their parents at the same age, with high housing costs and economic uncertainty continuing to stand in the way.

38% of the oldest Gen Zers own their home, compared to 43% of their parents at the same age

Homeownership data over time shows that it was more common for young people to own homes in the past.

Take 28-year-olds as an example: 38.3% of 28-year-old Gen Zers owned their home in 2025, compared to 42.5% of Gen Xers when they were 28 and 44.4% of baby boomers when they were 28.

57% of mid-30s Americans own their home, compared to 64% of their parents at the same age

Looking at millennials, 57.2% of 36-year-olds owned their home in 2025, compared with 61.2% of Gen Xers and 63.7% of baby boomers when they were 36.

The comparatively low share of young homeowners today stems mostly from a lack of affordability. But it’s also because young adults are reaching milestones later in life. For example, the average first-time mother in the U.S. is 27.5 as of 2023, up from 24.9 two decades ago, according to CDC data.

It’s worth noting that the oldest Gen Zers are making more progress than the younger ones. Just over 38% of 28-year-olds own their home, compared with 31.6% of 27-year-olds and 27.2% of 25-year-olds.

Why housing is still out of reach for many young buyers

Affordability improved slightly in 2025 compared with the year before, but high costs and economic uncertainty continued to act as a roadblock for many young Americans.

The weekly average mortgage rate fell from roughly 7% at the start of 2025 to about 6.2% by year’s end, and home-price growth slowed. As a result, monthly housing costs dipped to their lowest level in two years, and rising wages helped some young people finally break into the market.

Still, housing remains far from affordable. Mortgage rates are still more than double their pandemic-era lows, home prices remain historically high, and buyers still need to earn $112,000 to afford the median-priced U.S. home—roughly $25,000 more than the median U.S. income. Because young people are less likely to already own a home and use equity to trade up, high costs remain a bigger barrier for them than for older buyers.

Economic uncertainty has also caused many young Americans to delay homebuying plans, with concerns about job security and tariffs putting major purchases on hold.

Age plays a role, too. Gen Zers and millennials turned one year older in 2025, aging further into homeownership. Older Gen Zers and millennials are in their peak homebuying years as they grow their careers, earn more money, pay down student debt, and feel ready to trade rent for a mortgage. But many others—especially younger Gen Zers—haven’t reached their peak earning years, haven’t had time to save for a down payment, and don’t yet have the funds for homeownership.

“The reality is that with housing costs still historically high, many young Americans are making compromises on location, size, or timing to get their foot in the homeownership door and start building equity,” said Asad Khan, a senior economist at Redfin. “Gen Zers and millennials are making small gains in homeownership because they’re eager to buy, they’re making sacrifices, and because affordability has improved a bit at the margins—not because homes suddenly became affordable. We expect the slow progress to continue this year, with housing costs dipping slightly while wages rise.”

Homeownership for older generations is holding steady

For older generations, homeownership remains high and relatively stable.

Just under three-quarters (72.7%) of Gen Xers owned their home in 2025, essentially unchanged from 72.9% a year earlier. For baby boomers, the rate was 79.9%, compared with 79.6% a year earlier.

Higher homeownership rates for older generations are to be expected, as they have had longer to amass money to buy homes, and many older Americans found it easier to buy homes because costs were lower in past decades.

20-somethings still took up a bigger piece of the homebuying pie in 2025

Buyers ages 19-29 purchased 18.5% of all homes sold in the U.S. in 2025, up from 14.4% the year before. Buyers ages 30-39 made up the largest share of home purchases, buying 26% of homes, up from 25% a year earlier.

Despite affordability strains, more people in their 20s are finding ways to buy despite high prices and mortgage rates—often by purchasing smaller homes, moving to more affordable metros, or leaning on family help. And it stands to reason that 30-39 year olds are buying more homes than any other age group, as they’re in their prime buying years, moving for new jobs, new relationships, new babies, or new adventures.

Meanwhile, older Americans are making up a smaller share of buyers. People aged 60 and older bought 23% of homes in 2025, down from 30% the year before.

Methodology

Data was calculated using the Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement, from 1976 to 2025, and monthly IPUMS CPS data for 2025 through August. The data was accessed using IPUMS-CPS*. The homeownership rate is defined as the percentage of household heads who own a home versus rent, broken down by generation. Note that people who are living with their parents or other family members are not included in the calculation for their generation.

Gen Zers were 13-28 years old in 2025 (born 1997-2012); only adult Gen Zers (19-27 years old) were included in this analysis. Millennials were 29-44 (born 1981-1996) in 2025, Gen Xers were 45-60 (born 1965-1980), and baby boomers were 61-79 (born 1946-1964).

For the section on home purchases by generation, please note that the word “purchase” refers to the number of household heads who reported moving to a new home in the past year and owning their new home, by age group. While the vast majority of those moves are the result of a home purchase, some are the result of an inheritance or other property transfer.

This story was produced by Redfin Real Estate and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.