Americans who don’t already own homes are deeply discouraged about their possibilities of overcoming the obstacles to homeownership. Amongst non-homeowners, 53% of individuals say that “owning a house won’t ever be financially inexpensive,” in accordance with recent survey data from life insurance company Northwestern Mutual.
While Northwestern Mutual doesn’t report how homeowner sentiment in 2025 compares to previous years, other studies confirm that affordability has worsened for first-time buyers.
The National Association of Realtors reported in November that the everyday age of a homebuyer had increased to 56, rising from age 49 the yr before. The age of the everyday first-time homebuyer was 38, up from 35 in 2023. The climbing age of homebuyers underscores the incontrovertible fact that younger Americans are having a difficult time competing available in the market, as they typically have less access to the capital needed to purchase a house.
The prices have simply gone up an excessive amount of, especially for Gen Zers and millennials. In response to Realtor.com, the median list price in February was $412,000, which is up 39.2% since February 2019. The worth per square foot is up much more: 54.8%.
While mortgage rates have decreased since peaking above 7% in mid-January, the typical rate for a 30-year fixed-rate was 6.65% for the week ending Thursday, which continues to be high enough to sideline many would-be buyers. And with inflation still above the Federal Reserve’s goal rate of two%, some officials are saying that rates of interest cuts could possibly be on hold until at the least the summer. Which means high mortgages rates could persist.
On top of housing affordability issues, households say their budgets are being challenged by inflation — the No. 1 financial concern for most individuals — making it harder to save lots of, in accordance with Northwestern Mutual.
All of those aspects are contributing to the despair amongst non-homeowners. The life insurance company’s poll found that individuals say owning a house just isn’t an inexpensive goal because:
- They do not have enough saved for a down payment (64%)
- Mortgage rates are too high (48%)
- The housing market is just too competitive (43%)
Gen Zers who don’t own homes are barely more optimistic than older non-homeowners about their probabilities. While 58% of those millennials say homeownership just isn’t an inexpensive goal, the share is lower (49%) for Gen Z non-homeowners.
“In the case of whether people imagine they’ll afford to own a house, age is a giant factor,” John Roberts, chief field officer at Northwestern Mutual, said in a news release. “Gen Zers are still young and have more time on their side to get to a spot where home ownership feels attainable.”
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