Just 5% of Gen Z Own Homes, Marking the Widest Generational Homeownership Gap on Record 

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Only 4.5% of Gen Zers own homes today, compared with 73.1% of baby boomers, a 68.6% divide and the largest generational homeownership gap on record, according to a new report from Clever Real Estate, a St. Louis-based real estate company. 

Although the U.S. homeownership rate is currently at the highest level seen in the past two decades at 46.8%, homeownership among Americans under age 30 remains lower than pre-recession levels. 

Under-30 homeownership has fallen from 18.5% in 2005 to 11.8% today, a 36% drop over the past two decades. 

Only 4.5% of Gen Zers own homes, with the share rising to 44.1% among millennials, 64.8% among Gen X, and 73.1% among baby boomers. 

The result is the widest generational ownership gap ever, with a divide of nearly 69 percentage points between Gen Z and baby boomers. 

To pull Gen Z’s homeownership rate up to where boomers stand today, an additional 48.7 million Gen Zers would need to buy homes before they turn 65. That is comparable to the entire population of Spain. 

The generational homeownership gap doesn’t end with Gen Z, however. 

Although millennials now outnumber boomers by about 7 million adults, they own roughly 17 million fewer homes. Boomers own 49.3 million homes, compared with just 32.8 million among millennials. 

At the metro level, the widest Gen Z-to-boomer divides cluster in waterfront retiree hubs: Myrtle Beach, SC (80.9%), North Port, FL (78.7%), and Madison, WI (75.9%). 

The smallest gaps appear in markets so expensive that even boomers fall below average homeownership, such as Los Angeles, CA (54.6%), Las Vegas, NV (55.7%), and New York, NY (56.1%). 

Similarly, millennials trail boomers most in pricey coastal metros: Honolulu, HI (37.8%), Myrtle Beach, SC (37.3%), and North Port, FL (37.2%). 

The narrowest millennial-to-boomer gaps run through more affordable Midwestern cities: Omaha, NE (16.4%), Des Moines, IA (19.3%), and Akron, OH (20.5%).