More than half of millennials and Gen Zers are under the belief they will only way be able afford to buy a home if they win a lottery.
According to a new survey by Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG), 52% of Gen Zers and 57% of millennials who are not homeowners stated they would need to win the lottery if they ever want to move beyond rental housing. But if the Powerball doesn’t pay off in their favor, 95% of Gen Zers and 94% of millennials admitted they would have to make some life changes in order to make their dream of homeownership a reality.
And what will these life changes require? Zillow found roughly 40% of millennials predicting they would need to get a second or third job while 28% of Gen Zers believed they would need to pursue a new career in order to obtain the American Dream.
“These findings highlight the gap between Gen Z and millennials’ dream of owning a home and their ability to actually make it happen,” said Zillow’s home trends expert Amanda Pendleton. “Mortgage rates have been on the rise since last year, sending monthly housing costs through the roof — the typical monthly mortgage payment is now $431 higher than a year ago. Combine rising rates with record-breaking home value appreciation and it’s easy to understand why younger generations are wondering how they’ll ever be able to afford a home.”
Nonetheless, the picture isn’t all gloom and doom – roughly two-thirds of the Gen Zers and millennials surveyed insisted it was realistic to believe they will be able to buy a home within the next five years.
Zillow’s survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll from March 16–20; from a pool of 2,066 respondents, 306 were Gen Z adults ages 18–26 and 585 were millennials ages 27–42.
;
