Key Details:
- According to Realtor.com’s survey of 1,000 Gen Z adults, 82% believe it’s harder for their generation to buy a home, while 67% still see homeownership as a key life goal.
- Nearly three-quarters have already started saving for a down payment, and estimate they will need an average of $54,500 saved.
- Most are prioritizing career advancement and disciplined saving over speculative investments, signaling a pragmatic generation that’s ready to buy when affordability aligns.
More than 8 in 10 Gen Z adults believe it’s harder for their generation to buy a home than it was for those who came before them.
Yet despite that reality, most still see homeownership as an essential milestone worth pursuing.
According to Realtor.com’s latest survey of 1,000 adults ages 18 to 27, this generation is balancing ambition with affordability in a housing market that often feels out of reach.
Byron Lazine broke down the stats from the survey on Wednesday’s Hot Sheet.
When it comes to homeownership, Gen Z isn’t in denial about the challenges they face. But their approach to building wealth and reaching that goal suggests a level of realism, patience, and determination that could reshape the next decade of buyers.
The Affordability Challenge
For Gen Z, the math is sobering: 82% of survey respondents said it’s harder for their generation to buy a home compared to earlier ones. Yet about one in six (16%) said housing affordability ranks among their top life concerns.
Even so, the dream is alive.
- 67% said owning a home remains an important lifetime goal.
- 69% see real estate as a way to generate wealth.
- 51% still consider homeownership part of the American dream.
Nearly half of respondents said they feel ready to buy, but only 36% feel financially ready to make the leap. The gap between motivation and affordability is clear, and it’s shaping how this generation thinks about the path to ownership.
Career First, Home Later
For now, Gen Z’s focus is on financial stability. The top milestone among those surveyed isn’t marriage or children, but career advancement.
Nearly half (49.5%) ranked career growth as their number-one priority, and most said that earning more money would directly impact their desire to buy.
- 82% said a higher-paying job would make them more eager to purchase a home.
- 80% said they’d be more motivated to buy if they could afford it.
This generation is still about a decade younger than the median first-time buyer, which makes their focus on career progress practical. Gen Z understands that long-term financial health, not timing the market, is what will eventually get them through the front door.
Byron summed it up when he introduced Realtor.com’s report findings on Hot Sheet:
“People say a lot of things about Gen Z. One thing that I find is Gen Z is an interesting group. When I was in that age group…there wasn’t a day during that period of time when I thought about politics, the macro economy, not really. And this group, they think about finance, they think about how that ties into the political conversation…they think about the macro economy, they think about investing, about ways to invest…
“This Gen Z generation thinks about things earlier than, I would say, almost any other generation that is alive today. Now, you may disagree with that. I would just offer that you probably haven’t looked deep enough at Gen Z. They have more information than any of us did.”
(Speaking as a mom of Gen Zers, this 100% tracks. These kids are focused on laying the right foundation before they start house-hunting. And crypto is, at least for now, a non-issue.)
There are subtle gender differences in priorities, too. More than half of Gen Z women (52%) put career advancement first, compared to 45% of men.
On the flip side, 23.7% of men ranked buying a home as their top goal, versus 19.4% of women. That slight gap may reflect differences in income or career stage rather than attitude.
Byron commented on this, too:
“That’s interesting because what we’ve seen for the millennial generation, [show] women tend to buy a home before men (single men vs single women). We’ve seen that women, in the millennial group, anyways, have gotten there first, have been more financially disciplined, more organized, have been able to pull it off more so than single men. And Gen Z, right now, as a goal, as an ambition, men are saying that’s a top goal ahead of the Gen Z women. So, we’ll see if the results actually flip as the ambitions lie.”
Saving Smarter, Not Riskier
Even with affordability constraints, Gen Z isn’t sitting idle. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they’ve already started saving for a down payment, and they estimate they’ll need around $54,500 to buy.
That’s less than a 20% down payment on a $425,000 home ($85,000), but still well above the national average of $30,250 recorded in late 2024. This shows a generation aiming to save more aggressively, likely to offset higher borrowing costs.
Many are also finding creative ways to cut costs and build savings:
- About one in three have worked or are working a second job or side hustle.
- Roughly one in four have moved or plan to move to a more affordable area.
- Fewer are relying on family loans, crypto, or high-risk investments.
It’s a disciplined approach that contrasts sharply with the “get rich quick” mentality sometimes associated with younger investors.
Gen Z appears to be focused on financial control and stability, not speculation.
What They Want in a Home
When asked what matters most in their first home, Gen Z is pragmatic. The top priority is finding a property at the “ideal price” (33%), followed by the right size and space (18.5%) and an ideal location (17.9%).
Their ideal home is modest and functional:
- 44.5% said they’d prefer a three-bedroom home.
- Around 90% said the ideal number of bedrooms is two, three, or four.
And they’re thinking long-term. Nearly half (43%) said they plan to wait and buy a forever home rather than a starter home. Another 30% plan to buy smaller first and upgrade later.
Only 10% see their first purchase primarily as an investment property.
The Mindset of the Next Generation
Gen Z is coming of age in one of the most challenging housing markets in modern history, marked by high prices, limited inventory, and elevated mortgage rates.
But instead of giving up, they’re shifting their strategy.
They’re earning more, saving earlier, and taking a measured approach to when and how they buy. Their responses reflect a generation that’s pragmatic and determined to make homeownership work, on their own terms.
For the housing industry, that mindset offers a glimpse of what’s ahead: buyers who are disciplined, data-driven, and patient enough to wait until the numbers make sense.
In other words, they’re not giving up on the dream of homeownership. They’re simply redefining what it takes to get there.
Byron summed it up this way:
“The point about this, and the reason why I thought this study was relevant for the discussion: Gen Z is coming up. Gen Z is definitely going to be a player at the table. No matter what you think about Gen Z, they’re relevant…they’re going to be homebuyers soon. They want to buy a house. They have interest in it. So, don’t discount Gen Z, okay…There are a lot of Gen Z working incredibly hard.”
So much for the “lazy Gen Z” stereotype.
