Gen Z home ownership is becoming a higher priority than career ambitions for some young Americans, with many willing to postpone a dream job or move back in with family to save for a property.
About 28% of Gen Z adults said they would choose their dream home over their dream job in research commissioned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate. Among those who do not own a home, 92% said they hoped to buy one eventually, even if that meant delaying other major life goals.
More than three-quarters of Gen Z respondents said they had moved in with, or considered living with, their parents or in-laws to build up savings for a deposit. The figures point to multigenerational living becoming an increasingly practical response to high housing costs.
“Gen Z is telling us loud and clear that owning a home is still the milestone that says you’ve made it,” Mary Lee Blaylock, president of Coldwell Banker Affiliates, said.
“Many are moving back in with family and making real sacrifices now because they see homeownership as the foundation for the life they want to build,” she added.
Home ownership remains closely associated with the American Dream, despite the financial barriers facing younger buyers. Around 85% of those surveyed said owning a home was part of that ambition for most Americans, the same proportion as in 2025.
Some parents are already trying to ensure their children do not face the same obstacles. About 85% of Gen Z parents and 82% of millennial parents said they had either started saving towards a child’s deposit or considered doing so.
Why Gen Z is delaying moving out
A record 25.2 million Americans under 35 lived with their parents in 2025, equivalent to about one in three young adults, according to a 2026 report from Realtor.com.
The number was higher than during the pandemic, when many young professionals returned to their family homes. However, the figures do not mean that most young adults living with their parents are unemployed or making no contribution to the household.
About 70% of 25 to 34-year-olds who lived with their parents were employed. Separate 2024 figures from Pew Research found that 72% of young adults in that position contributed financially in some way, with 46% helping with rent or the mortgage and 65% paying towards groceries, utilities or other household costs.
Rising property prices and rents have made moving out increasingly difficult. The median US home cost $430,000 in 2025, up 34.4% from 2019, while average monthly rent rose 17.9% to $1,673.
A housing shortage of roughly four million homes has added to the pressure, while relatively low starting salaries, job insecurity and limited savings have left many young workers unable to afford independent living.
Multigenerational living becomes more accepted
The shift may represent more than a temporary pause before young adults establish their own households. Housing research firm Zelman said the share of adults in their twenties and thirties living with parents had continued to rise and was unlikely to fall significantly by 2030.
Only about 15% of people in those age groups lived with their parents in 1980. Recent Zelman data put the current proportion of Gen Z and millennials doing so at 22.4%, while only 44% of people aged 20 to 39 could afford the median rent in their local area.
Ivy Zelman, co-founder and executive vice-president of Zelman, said high interest rates and stretched affordability were driving the increase in multigenerational households.
“Now since rates have been going up and affordability remains very stretched, we’re seeing [multigenerational living] increase,” she said during a roundtable discussion. “We assume that it’s going to stay fairly stable as we continue into the second half of the decade.”
She said the change was also cultural, with living at home carrying less stigma than in the past. “We are going to start looking a lot more like Europe: multigenerational living,” she said.
