{"id":4222,"date":"2026-07-10T21:07:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T21:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222"},"modified":"2026-07-10T21:07:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T21:07:52","slug":"is-buying-a-home-still-the-way-to-wealth-some-young-americans-arent-sure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222","title":{"rendered":"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

By Paulina Cachero, Bloomberg<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fast-rising costs of owning a home have some young Americans questioning whether buying a house is still a good investment.<\/p>\n

Read more Suspect arrested in Bay Area graduation shooting<\/a><\/p>\n

Take Tony Zhang, 34, who bought a $950,000 townhouse in Irvine, California in 2021 and says he now regrets it. The\u00a0supply-chain manager says investing his down payment of roughly 30% in the stock market instead would have left him with a portfolio worth as much as $1 million today.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad I just taken my down payment and bought Meta, Nvidia or any growth stock, I probably wouldn\u2019t even be working my 9-to-5,\u201d he said. Even\u00a0with a more conservative investment that mirrored the S&P 500, he estimates\u00a0he\u2019d have an\u00a0extra couple of hundred thousand dollars. In the meantime, renting a comparable two-bedroom apartment\u00a0in his area would be about $800 cheaper than his $4,300 monthly housing costs, which don\u2019t include maintenance.<\/p>\n

Zhang is among many people under 40 who feel that homeownership isn\u2019t the wealth-building tool it used to be. Less than a quarter of Americans aged 18 to 39 say buying a home is a very good investment, compared with 38% of those over 60 years old, a recent survey by the\u00a0Pew Research Center\u00a0found. A further 38% of under-40s see property as a \u201csomewhat good\u201d place to park their money.<\/p>\n

A separate survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found the proportion of under-50s who consider housing to be\u00a0a \u201cvery good\u201d investment had fallen to about 16% in February, from about 25% five years earlier.<\/p>\n

Broadly speaking, homes are a worse investment for first-time buyers today because wages haven\u2019t kept up with surging prices and ownership costs, said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0median sale price of a US home jumped 53% to $379,000 in the six years to May 2026,\u00a0Zillow data show, while borrowing costs more than doubled. Those who can afford to buy face outlays including property taxes, insurance and maintenance bills, which\u00a0cost the average US homeowner $15,979\u00a0in 2025 \u2014\u00a0a 4.7% increase from the\u00a0previous year, while household incomes rose just 3.8% over the period.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

More than half of US homes also lost value last year \u2014\u00a0 the highest share since 2012, according to Zillow,\u00a0when the effects of the global financial crisis were still playing out.<\/p>\n

\u201cYounger Americans\u2019 more negative view on homeownership reflects the economics of their lived experience,\u00a0\u201d said Wachter. \u201cThey face an\u00a0affordability problem and they don\u2019t get the returns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost nine in 10 Americans agree that buying a home is harder for young adults today than it was for their parents\u2019 generation, the Pew research found.<\/p>\n

Read more Kristi Noem divorcing husband caught in sex-fetish, cross-dressing \u2018secret life\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

That said, only 16% of survey respondents aged under 40 went as far as saying a house is a bad investment. Owning a home can provide\u00a0families with\u00a0 stability\u00a0and, for those who can afford to hang onto it,\u00a0a source of intergenerational wealth. Returns vary widely based where a homeowner buys their property and how long they own it, noted Pew senior researcher Richard Fry.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a complicated calculation and probably one of the most expensive things\u00a0young adults will ever buy,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a one-size-fits-all answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even those who snag a deal on a property can find the math gets complicated.<\/p>\n

Atalyia Ferrara, a 28-year-old teacher,\u00a0bought a $230,000 four-bedroom Philadelphia townhouse\u00a0in July 2021 with a $1,485 down payment, thanks to the city\u2019s Keystone Home Loan Program. Her monthly mortgage and taxes have gone up just $335 a month since then, but the maintenance costs have forced her to dip\u00a0into her savings instead of building a nest egg.\u00a0She\u2019s already poured more than $28,000 into home improvements, with another $25,000 for electrical repairs looming.<\/p>\n

Ferrara now works in neighboring New Jersey and says the house has become a money pit in an inconvenient location.\u00a0She and her husband are considering selling so they can rent in an area with better access to work and childcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bought the house at 23, just trying to get my foot in the door of building equity,\u201d said Ferrara. \u201cInstead, I\u2019m stuck with a house that\u2019s kept me where I\u2019m at and paying thousands for\u00a0repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zhang, in California, is planning to stay put until his eight-year-old daughter goes to college, hoping to cash in on his home\u2019s appreciation down the line.\u00a0After that, he plans to sell up and \u201crent\u00a0for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he can\u2019t help but think of what he could have made in the short term on a different investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust looking at how the stock market has performed, the opportunity cost of putting that money into a home has absolutely screwed me over,\u201d Zhang said.<\/p>\n

Read more Palo Alto police investigate more graffiti discoveries as hate crimes<\/a><\/p>\n

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Under-40s don\u2019t see homeownership as the wealth-building tool it once was, with surging property prices and ownership costs outstripping wage rises. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nIs buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Under-40s don\u2019t see homeownership as the wealth-building tool it once was, with surging property prices and ownership costs outstripping wage rises.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T21:07:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T21:07:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222\"},\"wordCount\":837,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4621d7349e76c60b7a9cdf17471c51dd.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222\",\"name\":\"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4621d7349e76c60b7a9cdf17471c51dd.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T21:07:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4621d7349e76c60b7a9cdf17471c51dd.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4621d7349e76c60b7a9cdf17471c51dd.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4222#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure - Next City Digest","og_description":"Under-40s don\u2019t see homeownership as the wealth-building tool it once was, with surging property prices and ownership costs outstripping wage rises.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T21:07:52+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure","datePublished":"2026-07-10T21:07:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222"},"wordCount":837,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4621d7349e76c60b7a9cdf17471c51dd.webp","articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222","name":"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4621d7349e76c60b7a9cdf17471c51dd.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-10T21:07:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4621d7349e76c60b7a9cdf17471c51dd.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4621d7349e76c60b7a9cdf17471c51dd.webp","width":1024,"height":683},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}