Gen Z Homeownership Rate Inched Up in 2025

Seattle, WA, January 28, 2026-Gen Z’s homeownership rate ticked up in 2025: More than one-quarter (27.1%) of Gen Zers nationwide owned their home, up from 26.1% a year earlier, reports Redfin. 

Millennials also eked out a gain in their homeownership rate, to 55.4% from 54.9% a year earlier; it’s natural that Millennials gain is smaller than that of Gen Z because they’re older and have had more time to buy homes.

This is according to a Redfin analysis of the Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement. Please note that in this report, homeownership rate refers to the share of households headed by Gen Zers, Millennials, Gen Xers or Baby Boomers that are owner-occupied; people who are living with their parents or other family members are not included in the calculation for their generation.  Gen Zers were 13-28 years old in 2025; only adult Gen Zers (19-28 years old) were included in this analysis. Millennials were 29-44 in 2025, Gen Xers were 45-60, and baby boomers were 61-79. More on methodology is available at the end of this report. 

For older generations, homeownership is holding steady at already-high levels. Just under three-quarters (72.7%) of Gen Xers owned their home in 2025, essentially unchanged from 72.9% a year earlier; for baby boomers, the rate was 79.9%, compared with 79.6% a year earlier. Higher homeownership rates for older generations is to be expected, as they have had longer to amass money to buy homes, and many older Americans found it easier to buy homes because costs were lower in past decades.

Bump in Homeownership For Young Americans is Gradual

The uptick in homeownership for Gen Zers is meaningful, but not explosive. For millennials, the increase represents stability. While affordability improved slightly in 2025 from the year before and supply rose, high costs and economic uncertainty continued to act as a roadblock:

The weekly average mortgage rate fell from to about 6.2% from 7% at the start of 2025, and home-price growth lost steam throughout the year. As a result, monthly housing costs dipped to their lowest level in two years by the end of 2025. Average wages have increased in recent years, too. That opened the door for some young people to break into the market. 

More sellers put their homes on the market; the increase in inventory gave buyers more to choose from.

But mortgage rates are still double their pandemic-era lows of roughly 3%, and while price growth has decelerated, home prices remain historically high. So while affordability is slowly improving in several parts of the U.S., homebuyers still need to earn $112,000 to afford the median-priced U.S. home–roughly $25,000 more than the median U.S. income. High housing costs are a bigger obstacle for young people than older people because they’re less likely to already own a home, meaning they can’t use equity to purchase their next house. 

Widespread economic uncertainty also put the kibosh on homebuying plans for many young Americans, with things like tariffs and lack of job security delaying major purchases. 

Age is also a factor. Gen Zers and millennials turned one year older in 2025, aging more and more into homeownership. Millennials and older Gen Zers are in their peak homebuying years; they’re growing their careers, earning more money, paying down student debt, and some are feeling ready to trade rent for a mortgage. But many others–particularly younger Gen Zers–haven’t reached their peak earning years, haven’t had time to save for a down payment, and don’t have the funds for homeownership. 

“The reality is that with housing costs still historically high, many young Americans are making compromises on location, size or timing to get their foot in the homeownership door and start building equity,” said Asad Khan, a senior economist at Redfin. “Gen Zers and millennials are making small gains in homeownership because they’re eager to buy, they’re making sacrifices, and because affordability has improved a bit at the margins–not because homes suddenly became affordable. We expect the slow progress to continue this year, with housing costs dipping slightly while wages rise.”