Here are Gen Z’s biggest hurdles to homeownership: survey

“Currently in the housing market, we’re seeing rising mortgage rates, insufficient supply and elevated house prices bringing about significant affordability challenges.”

by Adam Barnes | Nov. 17, 2022

FILE – A “SOLD” sign decorates the lawn of a new house in Pearl, Miss., on Sept. 23, 2021. Homeowner equity climbed to record highs in the first half of 2022, though its rate of growth is slowing as the housing market cools. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Story at a glance

A new survey shows that Gen Z Americans are most concerned with affordability when they enter the housing market in the future.

This cohort said the biggest hurdle will be saving for a down payment.

Concerns over down payments were followed by worries over credit scores and job stability.

Generation Z has a generally positive view of home ownership, even though there are many obstacles to owning homes and entering the market for the post-Millennial generation.

A new survey from Freddie Mac shows that Generation Z puts housing affordability at the top of issues they could face when entering the housing market in the future.

And close to a third of Gen Z, which consists of about 68 million people, said financial constraints could put homeownership out of reach.

Homes were already very expensive. Now mortgages have jumped up in price as the Federal Reserve has raised interest payments.

“Currently in the housing market, we’re seeing rising mortgage rates, insufficient supply and elevated house prices bringing about significant affordability challenges,” Pam Perry, Single-Family Vice President of Equitable Housing at Freddie Mac, said in a news release.

“Gen Z has taken notice and their hopes of homeownership have waned as the potential issues they may face in purchasing a home have become front and center.”

Saving for a down payment was the biggest hurdle among survey respondents, with nearly 40 percent listing it as a primary challenge they could encounter.

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Concerns over down payments were followed by worries over credit scores and job stability, with each coming it at 27 percent in the poll.

Student loans and credit card debt rounded out Gen Z’s five main hurdles to homeownership, and recent data shows about 36 percent of Americans in the Gen Z cohort already hold student debt.

Previous generations didn’t have the kind of student debt that Millennials and Generation Z now carry as they prepare to buy homes.

Despite the challenges, most Gen Z Americans hold favorable views of homeownership, with nearly all respondent saying homeownership would be something to be proud of. Ninety-six percent say that homeownership would give them more control and independence.

The survey was conduct online from March 24, 2022, to April 13, 2022, and interviews were performed done in June and July 2022.