Source: Bloomberg

Date Published: 08.13.2025

Link: Americans Are Getting Priced Out of Homeownership at Record Rates

Housing ownership affordability in the U.S. has eroded to crisis levels, with the costs of homeownership soaring well beyond the reach of most households and undermining one of the traditional cornerstones of middle-class wealth-building. Renting, once considered a financial trap, is now cheaper than owning in 49 of the 50 largest U.S. metros with the average monthly rent nearly $908 less than a starter home mortgage. Ownership costs have been driven up by a persistent housing shortage since the 2008 financial crisis, record-high home prices, two-decade-high mortgage rates, and mounting ownership costs such as insurance (up 74% since 2010) and property taxes (up nearly 50% in Florida since 2019). Buying a home now requires an annual income of $126,670, making home ownership only available to the top 15% of earners in the United States. This cost crisis is shutting many out of ownership altogether and causing wealth-building opportunities to slip away from the youngest generation.