• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Exclusive

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

FinanceHousing

Millennials looking to buy a home tell BofA the ‘American dream is becoming more challenging than ever’

By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 8, 2023, 6:03 PM ET
A lack of affordability makes attaining the American dream "more challenging than ever,” finds a new Bank of America report (via Getty)
A lack of affordability makes attaining the American dream "more challenging than ever,” finds a new Bank of America report (via Getty)Getty Images

Spiked mortgage rates, coupled with the Pandemic Housing Boom pushing up national home prices by over 40%, has seen housing affordability deteriorate to levels unseen since the housing bubble.

Recommended Video

That lack of affordability is why “attaining the American dream is becoming more challenging than ever,” Bank of America (BofA) analysts wrote in its eighth annual millennial housing survey published on Friday.  

“By almost every measure—rents, home prices, interest rates—this group expects to pay more for housing even as it already takes up one-third of their household income,” BofA analysts found. 

However, two-thirds of the survey’s respondents are still set on buying a home and say they’ll likely do so within the next two years, despite already spending around 30% of their income on housing (rent or a mortgage). Partly because the respondents expect housing costs, like rent, home prices, and mortgage rates to go up even further from here. Millennials also cited buying as a good investment. BofA’s survey respondents included over 1,000 millennials between the ages of 25 and 41, with average household incomes concentrated in the $25,000 to $75,000 range. 

“While some Millennials could feel motivated to buy a home soon to get ahead of cost increases, others may stay out of the housing market due to affordability challenges, particularly if rent moderates,” wrote the BofA analysts. (Analysts at BofA expect national home prices to flatten and rent growth to moderate over the coming year).

Millennials that said they weren’t planning to buy homes were most concerned about affordability, particularly with the jump in mortgage rates. Over the past three years, respondents have cited affordability as a concern, however, this year’s survey showed “a material jump,” wrote BofA analysts. 

Interestingly enough, 82% of the survey’s respondents reported wanting to buy older, less expensive homes and renovate them rather than buy a newly built home. As Fortune’s recently reported, millennials are paying millions of dollars to knock down homes—but of course those are rich millennials that aren’t as concerned with affordability. But this simply speaks to the generation’s creativity in home buying.  

Nonetheless, more millennials are homeowners than ever before, and each year BofA runs the survey the percentage of millennials that are homeowners has gone up. This year’s survey, 58% of respondents said they owned their home, up from 53% last year. Of those, 64% of millennials ages 31 to 41 said they owned their home. Meanwhile, only 51% of those ages 25 to 35 reported being homeowners.

From Fortune’s previous reporting, it’s clear that there’s variation among millennials and homeownership. For example, Fortune’s interviewed some high-earners, or higher than average, that are still renting because they don’t feel like they can afford to buy a home in the markets they live in. 

From a professional couple earning around $225,000 living in Los Angeles to a business owner earning over $200,000 on her own, living in Manhattan, in both cases these millennials were opting to rent, citing several barriers to home ownership.

Still, according to BofA analysts, the survey “suggests a slightly higher homeownership rate for Millennials overall than the latest Census Bureau data, which showed that 51.5% of Millennials were homeowners as of 2022, indicating that our survey respondents may not be representative of the broader U.S. Millennial population.”

Join us at the Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit May 19–20, 2026, in Atlanta. The next era of workplace innovation is here—and the old playbook is being rewritten. At this exclusive, high-energy event, the world’s most innovative leaders will convene to explore how AI, humanity, and strategy converge to redefine, again, the future of work. Register now.
About the Author
By Alena BotrosFormer staff writer
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Alena Botros is a former reporter at Fortune, where she primarily covered real estate.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

Tom Brady wearing commencement regalia behind a podium at Georgetown University
SuccessCareers
Tom Brady tells Gen Z to treat their careers like the Super Bowl: ‘You may only get one chance to impress your boss or land a promotion’
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
1 hour ago
Top CD rates from major banks May 19, 2026: Chase CDs, Bank of America CDs, Citibank CDs, and more
Personal FinanceCertificates of Deposit (CDs)
Top CD rates from major banks on May 19, 2026: Chase CDs, Bank of America CDs, Citibank CDs, and more
By Joseph HostetlerMay 19, 2026
1 hour ago
Current price of Bitcoin for May 19, 2026
Personal FinanceCryptocurrency
Current price of Bitcoin for May 19, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 19, 2026
2 hours ago
Current price of Ethereum for May 19, 2026
Personal FinanceEthereum
Current price of Ethereum for May 19, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 19, 2026
2 hours ago
Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
Personal FinanceOil
Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 19, 2026
3 hours ago
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Personal Financesilver
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, May 19, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 19, 2026
3 hours ago

Most Popular

While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense and gold
Economy
While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense and gold
By Eva RoytburgMay 18, 2026
21 hours ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
7 days ago
Current price of oil as of May 18, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 18, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 18, 2026
1 day ago
EXCLUSIVE: An hour in the Oval Office with the CEO-in-Chief, President Trump
Politics
EXCLUSIVE: An hour in the Oval Office with the CEO-in-Chief, President Trump
By Alyson ShontellMay 18, 2026
1 day ago
Spirit Airlines apologizes to all the Americans who can't afford any summer vacation flights as it shuts down
Travel & Leisure
Spirit Airlines apologizes to all the Americans who can't afford any summer vacation flights as it shuts down
By Rio Yamat and The Associated PressMay 18, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, May 18, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, May 18, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 18, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.