The American Dream of buying a home is still alive, but the path to get there looks very different from decades past.
A Coldwell Banker report shared with Fortune shows a staggering 84% of Gen Z say they’re delaying major life milestones like getting married, having children, changing careers, and getting a pet, just to afford to buy a home.
Harris Poll surveyed more than 3,000 U.S. adults on behalf of residential and commercial real estate firm Coldwell Banker, and found nearly all Gen Z (97%) and millennials (93%) want to buy a home someday, but the path to homeownership is increasingly difficult due to high home prices, mortgage rates, and other housing costs.
“There’s no single fix” to making housing more affordable, Jason Waugh, president of Coldwell Banker Affiliates, told Fortune. Rather, it would take “declining mortgage rates, growing inventory, and moderating price growth.”
“Beyond that, state and local programs offering down payment assistance and tax incentives can significantly ease the financial burden for first time buyers,” he added. “Many may qualify for support they’re not yet aware of.”
Other recent data confirms just how difficult it’s been for younger generations to break into the housing market: In 2025, the share of first-time home buyers plummeted to a record low of 21%, while the typical age of first-time buyers climbed to an all-time high of 40 years, according to a National Association of Realtors report released last week.
“The historically low share of first-time buyers underscores the real-world consequences of a housing market starved for affordable inventory,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement. “The share of first-time buyers in the market has contracted by 50% since 2007—right before the Great Recession.”
The Coldwell Banker report also shows 53% of aspiring first-time homeowners don’t expect to buy their first home until they’re at least 40, suggesting milestones like starting families could be pushed back even further.
The housing affordability crisis
One of the most frustrating aspects of today’s housing market is hopeful homebuyers can remember the sub-3% mortgage rates of the pandemic era. Now, home rates continue to hover over 6%, and home prices have skyrocketed about 50% in just the past five years, according to the Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
Meanwhile, Americans need to make about $141,000 to afford a median-priced home, according to a National Association of Home Builders report, but the average salary for a person in the U.S. is about half of that.
“The income needed to buy a home in the U.S. “remains significantly higher than before the [COVID-19] pandemic, underscoring the ongoing challenge of affordability even as market conditions gradually rebalance,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale previously said in a statement.
Gen Z is trying
Although the path to homeownership “may be more complex for Gen Z,” Waugh said, they’re also a generation that’s resourceful and determined.
Many Gen Zers are taking on side hustles for supplemental income streams, he said, and they’re also considering buying less ideal homes like something smaller of a fixer upper. Some are also moving to more affordable areas, cobuying with family or friends, or moving in with parents to save up to buy a home.
Waugh gave an example of a 20-year-old client who chose to forgo college, began working at 17, and spent three years saving while living with his parents to save enough money to buy a house of his own.
“This openness to multigenerational living and creative financial strategies suggests that—rather than being unattainable—the American Dream is being redefined by Gen Z to align with evolving economic realities,” Waugh said.
