The common milestones of the American dream once came in rapid succession. Couples would get married, buy a home, and have kids. But low inventory, skyrocketing mortgage rates, and stagnating wage growth have scrambled those milestones for some.
The National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report, a survey of 6,103 primary residence buyers from July 2025, found that many Gen Zers—which the NAR defines as those ages 18 to 26—are skipping the chapel and walking straight into a realtor’s office. More than half of Gen Zers today, 53%, are buying homes alone. That figure is more than double the rate at which millennials were buying homes solo at the same age. An NAR study from 2013, the first year NAR released their generational trends report, found that singles comprised just 22% of homebuyers 32 and younger. Out of those Gen Zers purchasing a home, 35% are single women and 18% are single men.
“Gen Zers are absolutely crushing it when we think about singles purchasing homes in this housing market compared to millennials at the same age,” Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at NAR, told Fortune.
The trend is the latest data point in the generational reinvention of the path to homeownership. A 2025 Coldwell Banker survey found a staggering 84% of Gen Zers say they’re delaying major life milestones, such as marriage and even career changes, just to afford a home. The age of the median first-time homebuyer hit an all-time high of 40 last year, meaning even the oldest Gen Zers are still over a decade away from reaching homeownership.
The giant to be sure accompanying this data point is that, as many Gen Zers aim to make homebuying a reality, they still make up a small share of the housing market. The generation accounted for just 4% of all buyers. And the report also found first-time homebuyers composed the smallest share ever recorded since NAR started collecting data in 1981. First-time buyers comprise just about one in five, or 21%, of homebuyers, down from 24% last year.
How some Gen Zers afford a down payment
The housing market overall today is moving at an increasingly sluggish pace. The spring buying season is usually one of the hottest times for the market. But home sales fell 3.6% in March month over month as prospective homebuyers wait on the sidelines for mortgage rates to fall and for affordability concerns—partly driven by higher-for-longer oil prices stemming from the Iran war—to cool down.
For those Gen Zers who have scored a pair of keys, many are taking nontraditional routes to a down payment. About 14% of homebuyers 18 to 26 have consulted a community or government down payment assistance program (DPAP). These financial aid initiatives are usually provided by state or local governments, nonprofits, or lenders, and are designed to cover the upfront costs of purchasing a home to help low-income buyers get a foothold in the housing market. For comparison, the next-highest generation to consult a DPAP for support were young millennials, those ages 27- to 35-year-olds, just 4% of whom used that financial lever.
About 13% of Gen Zers have received gifts from relatives or friends. That’s less than young millennials, nearly a quarter of whom received gifts, and 13% of older millennials, 36- to 45-year-olds, did too. About one fifth of Gen Z homebuyers used the proceeds from the sale of a primary residence.
Whatever the journey, Lautz said the varied paths to homeownership point to the resilient belief in homebuying as a core tenet of the American dream. “I am encouraged that we are seeing them move into homeownership,” she said. “I do think it speaks to the strength of homeownership being part of the American dream.”
