RALEIGH – Home prices have increased, and now mortgage interest rates have as well. Yet competition in the housing market remains fierce, and homebuyers may wish to prepare for a bidding war. Still, with these challenges, a majority of Americans believe homeownership is an important goal, and a worthwhile endeavor.
But there’s a generational difference in perspectives, a new study of survey data conducted by Apartment List found.
In the most recent survey, conducted in December 2021, Apartment List found that those who identified as members of the Baby Boomer generation were nearly twice as likely as those who identified as a member of Generation Z to rate the importance of homeownership a 10 out of 10.
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Less convinced
While still common for Americans to note that homeownership is important, with nearly two of every three respondents rating the importance of homeownership at an 8 or higher on a 10-point scale, younger Americans expressed “greater ambivalence about the importance of homeownership,” the report notes.
Only 23% of respondents who had identified as a member of Gen Z ranked the importance of homeownership at a ten. That’s well below the 45% of those in the Baby Boomer generation.
“Many members of Gen Z are still years away from actively pursuing homeownership, and so their attitudes may shift over time,” the report notes. “However, it’s also worth noting that most Millennials are in their prime homebuying years, and they also have more ambivalent views of homeownership’s importance compared to the generations that preceded them.”
Millennials: purchasing a home is extremely difficult
Turns out, if you’re trying to buy your first home, you might think that homebuying is extremely difficult compared to other generations.
The study revealed that the most common response to the question “On a scale of 1-10, how difficult is it for the average American family to afford and purchase a home?” was a difficulty rating of 10.
More than half of all respondents, across generations, scaled this question at an 8 or higher.
But the share of respondents across the generation increases, and Millennials have the most pessimistic view of the typical American’s homebuying prospects, the report notes.
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And, there’s a belief it’ll get even worse
Only 14% of all respondents said they believed that it will be easier to purchase a home ten years from now.
Two of every three respondents said they believed that homebuying would be more difficult after a decade.
The country, and the Triangle, is in the midst of one of the most challenging times for the housing market with rising prices of homes and rents as investors are scooping up homes. And very few Americans believe that this situation will improve in the coming years, and a majority expect that it will worsen, the survey data revealed.
There’s a generational split in these responses, as well, with just 9% of Baby Boomers expecting homeownership to become more attainable compared to 17% of Gen Z, the report says.
“Despite valuing homeownership, there is also broad pessimism about the future of the housing market,” the report concludes.
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