Builder confidence may be up, but buyers still remain wary. Only one-fifth of buyers say they can afford over half the houses available where they live. Unsurprisingly, Millennials and Gen Z are the two generations hit hardest by high housing costs, but Gen X and Boomers are still feeling the squeeze.
Despite help from the lowest mortgage rates in three years, an NAHB poll* conducted in the third quarter of 2019 shows that a strong majority of prospective home buyers continue to have poor expectations about being able to afford the homes for-sale in their markets. In fact, 80% say they can afford fewer than half the homes currently available where they live, essentially the same share as a year earlier (79%). This in turn means that only a fraction of buyers (20%) can afford half or more of the homes for-sale in their markets.
The two generations most likely to be affected by affordability constraints are Gen Z and Millennials: 81% and 84%, respectively, say they can afford fewer than half the homes available for-sale. The shares are only slightly smaller among Gen X (76%) and Boomer (77%) buyers. Geographically, more than three out of every four buyers in every region of the country say they can afford under half of the homes available in their areas.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Design
What Gen-Z Buyers Really Want in a Home
The fervor of planning for Millennials in the home building industry has now pivoted to Gen Z. So, what does this new generation want?
Demographics
Post-Pandemic Trends: Working From Home
A greater share of workers are still working from home than before the pandemic and they're concentrated in the information, professional, and financial services sectors
Demographics
Millennials on Top Again as Largest Homebuying Group
Millennials beat out Boomers as the largest homebuying cohort, according to a recent report, but Boomers remain the largest generation of home sellers