When it comes to Gen Zers, Millennials, and Gen Xers, all are facing big challenges in today’s real estate market. Those challenges are creating major generation shifts when it comes to preferences and purchasing power, especially when it comes to buying vs renting.
A study on homeownership looked at the differences between Gen Zers, Millennials, and Gen Xers. The study shows that today, Millennial and Gen Z renters who are thinking about buying a home say high prices and debt make homeownership an impossible dream.
Although Gen Zers are just starting to enter the real estate market, they are quickly becoming decision-making customers with a determined attitude. As many as 83% of Generation Z survey respondents stated that they’re planning to buy a home in the next five years.
The data also shows that 50% of Millennials and 50% of Gen Zers are renting today, while only 29% of Gen Xers rent. More than 80% of respondents from each generation said they plan on buying a home in the next five years. Millennials are the most ambitious, with 87% of them determined to become homeowners. The question is how many of them can actually afford to buy a home.
The more experienced Gen Xers said that saving for the down payment is the biggest obstacle towards buying a home, followed by their credit scores. Millennials share this view, having a hard time saving up mostly because of college debt, their number two impediment. Gen Zers, still very young, think that student debt is their number one problem, probably a result of witnessing the similar hardships Millennials have been going through. Not being able to save enough money has gotten Millennials stuck in the role of renters, which has pushed the rental rates to a historical high.
Millennials may be the largest category of homebuyers right now, but half of the Americans born between 1980 and 1995 still rent – just as many as their younger Gen Z peers. The study found that the number one obstacle for Gen Z taking the jump into homeownership is college debt. Meantime, Millennials who aspire to own their own place are burdened with the highest levels of student debt in history. They’ve been locked into the rental market far longer than previous generations and have the least positive outlook on ever owning their own home. By comparison, 21% of Gen Xers see credit scores as the biggest hurdle towards homeownership.
Gen Zers, Millennials, and Gen Xers don’t need to worry if they live in West Ventura. As the County’s premier full-service Property Management, ReMax Gold Coast is here to help them find the perfect rental property where they can stay for as long as they like. We represent premier long-term rentals in Hollywood Beach, Silverstrand, Mandalay Shores, Port Hueneme, Oxnard Shores, Seabridge, Westport, Mandalay Bay, Oxnard homes and condos, Ventura Keys, Pier Pont, Faria, Solimar & Rincon BeachPark beaches and Ventura and Camarillo. No matter what age group you’re in, please call us at +1 (805) 832-4075.