Pew Research: A Generation Locked Out of Homeownership

A home that cost $269,600 in 2019 runs $350,000 today. Incomes for young adults climbed just 9% over that same stretch. It's no surprise that a supermajority of Americans — 87% — say buying a home is harder for young people now than it was for their parents.

The math explains why. As prices outpaced income, the price-to-income ratio for young households climbed to 3.5 — a level not seen since the housing bubble of the mid-2000s. Mortgage rates nearly doubled, from 3.9% in 2019 to 6.7% in 2024, pushing the average monthly cost of owning a home from $1,689 to $2,776. In 2019, 56% of renter households under 40 could afford that monthly cost. By 2024, only 37% could.

Even reaching the starting line has gotten harder. A down payment and closing costs on a typical home now run about $22,800, up from $17,500 in 2019. Seven in ten renters under 40 say it's the down payment — not the mortgage — standing between them and a home of their own.

The result: 60% of America's metro areas are now classified as unaffordable for young buyers, up from 41% in 2019. In some of the country's largest cities, the price-to-income ratio climbs past 7 to 1.

Housing is not a luxury. It's one of the basic building blocks of a stable life — and right now, it's out of reach for a generation that did everything right. Leading Ladies Vote believes equal access to housing is not negotiable. That starts with electing leaders who treat it that way.
🔗 Read the full Pew Research report: Buying a home has gotten harder for young adults in most U.S. metro areas