Source: NYT

Date Published: 07.10.2025

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/realestate/gen-z-buying-real-estate.html?searchResultPosition=9 

Article Summary: With home prices increasingly out of reach, especially for younger buyers, co-buying has emerged as a growing and unconventional financing strategy particularly among Gen Z. Roughly one-third of Gen Z adults are open to pooling resources with friends or family to afford a home, far surpassing millennials, representing a generational shift in homeownership financing. Many Gen Z buyers are already purchasing homes with parents or siblings, a trend that has grown rapidly in recent years. This form of shared ownership helps reduce the financial burden of buying and maintaining a home, making it a viable solution for affordability challenges. However, it also brings logistical complexities such as the need for formal co-ownership agreements and clear exit strategies. Alongside co-buying, Gen Z is also more open to using other creative cost-reduction tactics like renting out parts of their homes (“house-hacking”), buying fixer-uppers, and compromising on neighborhood choice.