If you consider owning a home as part and parcel of the American Dream, you aren’t alone. A survey recently released by Realtor.com showed many American adults hold that belief.
The proportion of U.S. adults that still consider home ownership to be a component of the American Dream stood at 75%, according to the Realtor.com survey.
The survey involved about 2,200 adults in the U.S. and took place online Nov. 7-8.
The association between homeownership and the American dream was observed most prominently among Baby Boomers, at 84%, per the real estate site.
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Generation X, millennials and Generation Z “agree but to a lesser degree” that owning a home remains an important aspect of the American dream. The survey found 74%, 69% and 67% of those generations respectively reported they hold that belief, Realtor.com said.
Many Americans aim to purchase a home of their own during their lifetimes. Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported that feat was a “life goal,” per the survey.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the U.S. homeownership rate hovered at 65.6% as of the third quarter of 2024.
In the Realtor.com survey, half of American adults maintained they must become a homeowner to “achieve long-term wealth.”
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Of the generations, millennials reported ascribing to that belief the most, at 53%, per the survey. A similar share of Gen Z Americans – 52% – did as well.
“Home, and land, ownership has been part of the American dream for generations, and while current conditions around affordability and the availability of homes make ownership more challenging, many Americans still see that ideal of having a home that belongs to them as a key cornerstone of achieving both the American Dream and creating long-term wealth for themselves and their families,” Realtor.com Vice President of Research and Insights Laura Eddy said in a statement.
Bullish feelings about the feasibility of personally becoming a homeowner were reported by 59% of Americans, according to the survey. Meanwhile, 20% “somewhat” or “strongly” disagreed with the notion that it was “achievable.”
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Homes in the U.S. sold for a median of $427,670 in December, marking a 6.3% jump from the same time in the prior year, according to a Jan. 17 Redfin report. More than 1.7 million homes were on the market as of that month.
Homebuyer demand “dipped at the end of the year because mortgage rates jumped,” Redfin said.
More recently, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 7.04% on average the week of Jan. 16, according to Freddie Mac. That marked a 0.11 percentage point increase from the prior week.
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