More than one-quarter (27.1 percent) of Gen Zers in the U.S. owned their home in 2025 —up from 26.1 percent a year earlier — according to a new report from Redfin. Millennials also eked out a gain in their homeownership rate, to 55.4 percent from 54.9 percent a year earlier.
For older generations, homeownership is holding steady at already-high levels, according to Redfin. Just under three-quarters (72.7 percent) of Gen Xers owned their home in 2025, essentially unchanged from 72.9 percent a year earlier; for baby boomers, the rate was 79.9 percent, compared with 79.6 percent a year earlier.
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 percent from 7 percent 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.
- Mortgage rates are still double their pandemic-era lows of roughly 3 percent, and while price growth has decelerated, home prices remain historically high. While affordability is slowly improving in several parts of the U.S., homebuyers still need to earn $112,000 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,” Asad Khan, a senior economist at Redfin, said in a release. “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.”
Redfin also took a look at homeownership data over time, which reveals that it was more common for young people to own homes in the past.
For example, 38.3 percent of 28-year-old Gen Zers owned their home in 2025, compared to 42.5 percent of Gen Xers when they were 28 and 44.4 percent of baby boomers when they were 28.
Looking at a millennial example, 57.2 percent of 36-year-olds owned their home in 2025, compared to 61.2 percent of Gen Xers and 63.7 percent of baby boomers when they were 36.
The comparatively low share of young homeowners today stems mostly from a relative lack of affordability, according to Redfin. It’s also because young adults are reaching milestones later in life than in previous generations. For instance, the average first-time mother in the U.S. is 27.5, up from 24.9 two decades ago.
It’s worth noting that the oldest Gen Zers are making more significant progress than younger ones. Just over 38 percent of 28-year-olds own their home, compared to 31.6 percent of 27-year-olds and 27.2 percent of 25-year-olds. Home ownership among Gen Zers who are 28 years old is higher than millennials’ rate of 36.8 percent when they were 28.
“25-year-olds aren’t driving demand, but a fair amount of people in their 30s are moving out to the suburbs with their kids,” Brenda Beiser, a Redfin Premier agent in Philadelphia, said in a release. “The other pattern with younger buyers is that they want to be in specific neighborhoods, suburbs with highly rated schools and homes with enough space for a family — but that type of house is hard to find, because the older people living in them are locked in by low mortgage rates. I’m hoping more new listings emerge in the spring.”
Redfin also looked at the share of home purchases made by each age group in 2025. The findings align with the uptick in Gen Z’s homeownership rate; they show that younger adults are gaining ground in the housing market.
Young adults (19-29 years old) took ownership of nearly one in five (18.5 percent) of all homes that changed hands in the U.S. in 2025, up from 14.4 percent the year before, according to Redfin. The next-youngest age group, 30-39 year olds, bought the lion’s share of homes: 26 percent, up slightly from 25 percent the year before.
Despite affordability strains, more people in their 20s are finding ways to buy despite high prices and mortgage rates, often by purchasing smaller homes, moving to more affordable metros, or leaning on family help, Redfin reported. It stands to reason that 30-39 year olds are buying more homes than any other age group, as they’re in their prime buying years, moving for new jobs, new relationships, new babies, or new adventures.
Younger generations took up a bigger piece of the homebuying pie in 2025, compared to older Americans. People who are 60 and older bought 23 percent of homes in 2025, down from 30 percent the year before.