Younger Americans increasingly viewed homebuying as harder than it was for their parents, and many no longer saw ownership as the main path to wealth.
Current-year buying still skewed older nationwide: boomers held the biggest buyer share, while millennials slipped and Gen Z remained only a small slice.
Tight starter-home inventory and higher costs kept many first-time buyers sidelined, as smaller homes stayed scarce and much of the market offered larger houses.
By Late-Q2, the US median price reached ~$409K, while 30-yr mortgage rates hovered in the mid-6% range in Early-Q3 for buyers nationwide.
Many younger adults were delaying ownership, leaning on retirement accounts, and using creative entry strategies like shared housing, with experts saying homeownership was shifting later.