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Gen Z Perceived As Hopeless When It Comes To Homeownership, But The Generation Is Not Giving Up 

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According to a new survey from Realtor.com®, while Gen Z is realistic about the multitude of challenges that stand in the way of them becoming homeowners, they’re not giving up. The survey was compiled utilizing information from 1,000 adults aged 18-27 who currently own, or hope to own, a home. 

Generation Z currently consists of those aged from 13 to 28, with the oldest of the group being a decade younger than the current average age for first-time homebuyers. 

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It found that 82% of the respondents believe it’s harder for their generation to buy a home compared to previous ones, with 16% saying housing affordability is the biggest concern. 

67% of respondents, about two-thirds, view homeownership as an important lifetime goal, while 69% believe that real estate is an opportunity to generate wealth. More than half of the respondents (51%) think homeownership is a major part of the modern American dream.

Even though half of the respondents stated that they feel ready to buy a home, only 36% believe they’re financially ready to do so. 

The survey asked the respondents about the top milestones they believe to be most important in adulthood. Advancing one’s own career ranked as the top milestone, with 49.5% responding accordingly. Right under that was buying a home, followed by getting married or having children. 

Career growth and homeownership being recorded as the top two milestones among this generation makes sense, as many of the respondents felt that in order to purchase a home, they need to feel stable and advanced in their career to feel secure enough to do so. 

82% of respondents said that a higher-paying job would make them more motivated to buy, with 80% stating they would want to buy if they could afford it in general. 

Getting more specific, the survey showed a minor gap in gender priorities with 52% of Gen Z women prioritizing their careers over other adult milestones, compared to 45% of Gen Z men. 

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23.7% of men ranked buying a home as their first goal compared to 19.4% of women. 

While affordability is a major concern, Gen Z is taking action to save for homeownership, with nearly 75% of respondents claiming to already be saving for a down payment. They estimate they’ll need an average of $54,500. 

The survey suggested that Gen Z who are hoping to become homeowners, or already are, are prioritizing steady, dependable strategies for saving. One-third of respondents have in the past, or currently are, working a second job to save up for their down payment. 

Around a quarter of respondents said that they have, or are willing to, move to a more affordable housing market to save up, and fewer have plans to borrow from family, invest, or rely on stock gains. 

When it comes to what Gen Z matters the most for buying a home, 33% prioritize affordability, 18.5% want to find a home that meets their space requirements, and 17.9% put an ideal location at the top of their list. 

44.5% said their ideal home is three bedrooms, and almost 90% said that they would prefer either 2, 3, or 4 bedrooms. 

The respondents also showed 43% of them wanting to wait to buy a forever home with 30% expecting to first get a starter home and then upgrade later on.

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The Netherlands Introduces Restrictions On Investors, Making Homeownership More Accessible 

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Some of the Netherlands largest cities have introduced restrictions on investors from renting out the real estate they buy as certain neighborhood populations change, increasing rent while house prices remain the same. 

As a means of making homeownership more accessible for middle-income households, the “Opkoopbescherming” (purchase protection) law strongly discourages investors from buying real estate, and states that any property with a value below a cap set by municipalities can’t be leased for four years after its purchase. 

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More than a year after this policy started, housing prices have yet to drop while rent prices are increasing with a smaller supply available. 

One of the main reasons the law was passed in the first place is because concerns were growing about investors driving up the real estate market by out-pricing home-buyers, and decreasing the livability in neighborhoods because tenants are more likely to stay for shorter periods of time.

According to Statistics Netherlands, house prices in the Netherlands have been regularly increasing, and prices of Dutch real estate grew by 13.4% in 2022, adding to a 15% growth from 2021. 

While the policy was drawn up at a national level, it’s up to municipalities to decide whether to implement the law. All Dutch cities with more than 200,000 residents introduced the investment-restriction policy in 2022. 

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The study regarding this law overall found that residents in the Netherlands would have a higher chance of buying homes in areas where real estate investors were not included. Nationwide, around 2,000 homes were sold to buyers, which otherwise would have been sold to investors. 

The research on the new law also showed, however, the absence of real estate investors hasn’t impacted rising home prices, meaning their investments may not contribute to price rises. 

According to Newsendip, Matthijs Korevaar, Assistant Professor at the Erasmus School of Economics, said that “investors usually have a more solid financial background – larger borrowing capacity, no resolutive conditions, etc. – which can give them an advantage in front of sellers compared to household buyers who need a high mortgage. Investors would pay similar prices but have better chances of buying a house thanks to their finances.”

The study also suggested that the ban on investors in certain areas has more so impacted the populations of a given neighborhood, as renters are normally younger, and homebuyers in the area are more often older and wealthier.