Press release
44% of adults would buy their childhood home today if they could afford it
Bowling alley, anyone? Zillow survey finds 98% of adults still pine for at least one feature of their childhood dream home Nearly two-thirds of Americans born
About this update from Zillow Group, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Bowling alley, anyone? Zillow survey finds 98% of adults still pine for at least one feature of their childhood dream home\nNearly two-thirds of Americans born in the 1980s (62%) and more than half of those born in or after 1990 (55%) would buy their childhood home today if cost were not an issue.Only half of all Americans say they could afford to buy their childhood home at today's prices.About three-quarters of adults say that, as a child, their dream home included a pool (77%) and/or a home theater (73%). Similar shares of adults still consider these features part of their dream home today.SEATTLE, May 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- There's an old saying that you can never go home again, yet nearly half of all adults would do just that if they could. A new Zillow® survey finds that 44% of Americans would buy their childhood home if cost were not an issue, yet only half of all adults say they could afford it at today's prices. An even larger share of millennials and Gen Z adults would buy their childhood home today. It suggests that the nostalgia craze that has swept pop culture, social media, fashion and marketing has reached housing. \n\n\"It appears younger generations aren't just nostalgic for low-rise jeans and Barbie, but for a simpler time in their lives when home was a place of comfort and safety,\" said Manny Garcia, a senior population scientist at Zillow who conducted this research. \"They may associate positive memories with their childhood home, having lived there without the burdens of rent, mortgage payments, maintenance, insurance or other housing hurdles. Today, a comparable home can feel out of reach, especially for younger adults who aspire to buy, but face steep affordability challenges.\" \nChildren of the 1980s and 1990s are the most likely to say they would buy their childhood home today — 62% and 55% respectively. Yet almost half of those born in the '80s (47%) and nearly two-thirds of those born in the '90s (62%) say they couldn't afford it at today's prices.\nThose would-be buyers now need to earn a six-figure income to afford the typical U.S. home. Younger generations may long for the housing market of their youth when prices were lower, but their parents likely faced similar, if not worse, affordability challenges in the early 1980s. In 1981, mortgage rates soared above 18%, taking the typical monthly mort...