All articles tagged with #homeownership
A study using the 30% of income rule for housing costs finds only Louisiana, Iowa, and Minnesota meet affordability for typical homebuyers; California is among the least affordable. Nationally, median home prices rose above $400,000 in late 2024 and stayed high into 2026, while mortgage rates have remained elevated since 2022, keeping many markets outside the affordability threshold.
A 2025 Realtor.com/Census analysis shows more than 25 million adults under 35 live with their parents, about one in three, the highest on record. The shift stems from housing costs—medians around $430,000 for homes and $1,673 for rent, with mortgage payments rising sharply—which keeps many employed young adults at home to save for a future purchase. First-time buyers remain scarce (a record low share), and marriages are delayed, further boosting two-income or shared-parent-home living as the path to independence becomes harder.
Gen Z is delaying homeownership with a record share of 25- to 34-year-olds living with parents or grandparents—nearly 20%, about 7.5 million people—as entry costs rise, starter homes shrink, and rents have jumped up to about 30% since 2020. Even many employed young adults face a housing-cost hurdle, not just a weak job market, leading economists to expect Gen Z to catch up to prior generations only once conditions improve.
Senate and House leaders announced a bicameral agreement on the bipartisan housing affordability package (the revised 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act), with the Senate set to begin procedural votes and the House planning an expedited vote after the June recess. The package incorporates House language restricting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, reintroduces several Senate topics with meaningful changes (including a three-year sunset for the CDBG-DR disaster-relief program), and aims to lower costs, increase housing supply, and expand homeownership ahead of year-end priorities. White House backing and prior chamber approvals underscore broad bipartisan support after months of negotiations.
A Simon-Kucher study finds the American dream is being redefined across generations, shifting from a uniform set of milestones to a focus on personal freedom and immediate financial security. Younger adults prioritize daily stability and meaningful experiences, while homeownership remains valued but harder to achieve amid rising costs and job insecurity, making the path to the dream less clear.
A Simon-Kucher study of 5,000 adults shows the traditional American dream is no longer a single blueprint. Gen Z and millennials are redefining it to prioritize personal freedom, immediate financial stability, and meaningful experiences over older milestones like long-term homeownership and retirement, driven by high living costs and job insecurity. Yet most still desire homeownership and value quality of life, signaling a shift from wealth accumulation to daily wellbeing and autonomy.
Young buyers are increasingly relying on parental help to buy homes in 2026, with 40% of homeowners receiving down-payment assistance (up from 35%), led by Gen Z (78%) and millennials (56%). Cash gifts from family commonly range from $25k to $49,999, and about 74% of parents plan to or have already helped, with 29% saying helping is more important than paying for college. This support—typically funded from checking accounts (65%), investments (50%), home equity (35%), and retirement accounts (32%)—helps about 43% qualify for a mortgage and 33% reduce monthly payments.
New homeowners in 2024 spent about 26% of their income on housing vs 20% for longer-tenured owners—a six-point gap dubbed the 'new homeowner penalty' and the widest since 1990—driven by high prices, mortgage rates hovering around 6%+, and rising costs like insurance and taxes. The result is a stubborn affordability crunch for first-time buyers, even with savings and family help; policymakers point to boosting housing supply through streamlined permitting and zoning reforms as the long-term fix, though effects will take time and vary by region.
A National Association of Realtors analysis of Census data finds U.S. homeownership rates differ by occupation: management and business professionals lead at about 72% ownership in 2024, education and social services around 67%, and STEM/technical workers about 67% but dipping since 2014; service workers remain lowest at about 46%, with the national rate near 65%. Local variation is substantial: in 61% of the 368 metros, the occupation most likely to own a home in 2024 differs from 2014, and affordability constraints—medians around five times income—mean many earners are priced out of homeownership.
The Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act 89-10 to expand housing supply via grants, pilots, and streamlined environmental reviews, while prohibiting large institutional buyers from certain single-family homes to boost homeownership. The bill faces an uncertain path in the House, as Trump prioritizes other voting legislation.
Senators Hawley and Merkley unveiled the Homes for American Families Act to bar investment funds with more than $150 million in assets from buying single-family homes, condos, or townhouses, with DOJ antitrust enforcement; the bill aims to ease the housing affordability crunch, excludes homebuilders, and comes as Trump and other lawmakers push to curb big investors in the housing market.
The White House asserts its government-wide housing plan is lowering costs and expanding access to homeownership, noting mortgage rates have fallen to multi-year lows, affordability indices and buyer activity are improving, rents are down, and refinancings are surging. It highlights actions such as directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities to reduce borrowing costs, curbing large institutional purchases of single-family homes, restricting taxpayer-backed mortgages to U.S. citizens, and scrapping the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule to streamline local housing decisions. The administration says these measures will strengthen the housing market for American families and advance the dream of homeownership.
Economist Peter Atwater warns that a persistent K-shaped recovery could create a caste-like divide in the US by widening gaps in asset ownership (homes and stocks) and opportunities for low-earning Americans; while he believes the split may eventually reverse if confidence rises and policy addresses the income gap.
President Trump signed an executive order to prevent large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, directing agencies to prioritize owner-occupants, impose disclosure and anti-circumvention rules, review related guidelines, and pursue legislation to curb Wall Street’s role in housing; the plan also asks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities to lower borrowing costs.
The White House issued an executive order to curb large institutional investors from buying single-family homes that could be owned by families, with definitions to be developed within 30 days and guidance to federal agencies to limit such purchases and promote owner-occupant sales within 60 days, including narrow exceptions for build-to-rent; the order also calls for Treasury rule reviews, antitrust enforcement focus on large acquisitions, and mandatory disclosure of ownership in rental homes for federal programs, aiming to preserve supply for families and paving the way for legislative codification.