Poll: Dreams of Home Ownership Are Fading

Homeownership dreams in the US are getting pushed further down the road—especially for young adults. A new Gallup poll finds just 25% of non-homeowners think they'll buy within five years, the lowest share since the question was first asked in 2013; back then, as many as 49% expected to buy in that time frame. Today, 28% expect to purchase within 10 years, while 45% don't see a home purchase in their future anytime soon. Homeownership overall sits at 61%, down from an average 70% in the 2000s.

The pullback is sharpest among 18- to 34-year-old non-homeowners: only 29% now expect to buy within five years, roughly half the level seen a decade ago, and the share saying they won't buy "in the foreseeable future" has more than doubled to 30%. Many aren't giving up entirely, though—41% think they'll buy within 10 years, "suggesting younger non-homeowners have not abandoned the idea of buying a home but are pushing their timeline out significantly," Gallup notes.

High prices, elevated mortgage rates, and tight inventory are shaping the mood, along with pessimistic views of the US economy and personal financial situations. The median home price was around $409,000 when the survey was conducted in early April. Just 29% of Americans call it a good time to buy, though that's up slightly from record lows, and about two-thirds expect local home prices to keep rising.

• Gallup found a partisan split in homebuying intentions. Some 41% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say this is a good time to buy a house, compared to 22% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Two years ago, when Joe Biden was in the White House, only 18% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents thought it was a good time to buy a house.
• The poll found little difference between regions, though the movement of home prices has been uneven, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, home prices in February rose at a pace slower than inflation for the ninth straight month. Chicago had the biggest gain among 20 major US metropolitan markets, with a year-on-year rise of just over 5%, while prices in Denver fell 2.2%.