- Despite the housing market, prices continue to rise Many young Americans, Gen Z members are digging deeper to find ways to give them dreams of homeownership. Research by the Bank of America Institute shows that more Gen Zers are taking on extra work or teaming up with their siblings to buy homes.
Young Americans don’t prevent the affordable housing market from buying their own homes.
According to the recent Bank of America Research Institute Surveymore gen Zers are getting help from outside Mom and Dad’s banks.
“Despite the financial hurdles, the dream of homeownership remains a strong motive for Z and millennials, and is now at the expense of prioritizing the long-term financial security that homes can offer,” says Bofa’s annual Homebuyer Insights report.
It turns out that 30% of Gen Z homeowners paid a down payment by raising additional jobs from 28% in 2024 and 24% in 2023.
The survey revealed a sharp increase in other financial resources. 22% of GenZ homeowners bought their homes with their siblings, surged from just 4% in 2023 from 12% in 2024.
This tracks similar data on joint ownership. According to 2024 survey by JW Surety BondsAlmost 15% of all Americans support their homes with people other than their romantic partners.
However, Americans seem to prefer to stay in their families. A Redfin survey last year found that over a third of millennials planning to buy a home expect their parents and family to help with the down payment.
A recent report from Bofa said 21% of General Gen ZZ buyers plan to resort to family loans, compared to the overall 15% of survey respondents.
“Even in the challenges they face, younger generations still understand the long-term value of owning a home, and many are doing what they need to do to get there,” said Matt Vernon, director of Bofa’s consumer loans, in a report that came out on May 28th.
This is the low rate of homeownership for Americans under 35 in the fourth quarter of 2024, 36.3%, from early 2019, but up to 36% in the first quarter of 2025. data From the US Census Bureau.
Meanwhile, a BOFA survey found that among the survey respondents it is a puzzle that the housing market remains frozen primarily by mortgage rates and home prices.
60% of current homeowners and future buyers said they couldn’t know if it was 57% last year and 48% in 2023.
Still, the majority of future buyers believe the market is better than a year ago and are refraining from purchasing as they expect mortgage rates and home prices will fall later.
“They may be waiting for the right moment, but they don’t stand still,” Vernon said. “They build their credit, save for the decline, pay attention to the market so they can buy when it’s right for them.”
In fact, we see a significant turning point in the housing market as momentum changes more firmly in favor of buyers than sellers.
According to data from 11 of the 50 largest US metropolitan areas, home prices have already fallen redfinahead of a wider decline later this year.
Redfin looks at median US selling prices It will be flattened annually in the third quarter, and by the fourth quarter it will be down 1% year-on-year.
This follows a similar forecast from Zillow in April, with the house value dropping by 1.9% this year after previously forecasting an increase of 0.6%.
“The combination of rising available listings and rising mortgage rates is to show potential price declines by the end of the year,” Zillow researchers wrote. “As supply increases, buyers are gaining more choice and time, while sellers are lowering prices at record levels to attract bids.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
