Lara Gale remembers the excitement she felt as a 12-year-old when her parents first bought their 4,600-square-foot home in the foothills of the Wasatch Front suburb of Sandy.
The Mediterranean-style house — with its unique arched doorways and windows — was a big upgrade from their first home, which had only two bedrooms and an unfinished basement. The new one had six bedrooms, more than enough for Gale, her three siblings and her parents. It had a large, maze-like basement and a sprawling backyard with a spectacular view of Lone Peak.
“It was like a castle,” Gale recalled her 12-year-old self thinking.
Fast forward 29 years. Gale is now 41 years old, and when she visits the home where her parents still live, she appreciates its size and space even more — especially now as an adult who navigated the housing market frenzy in 2021, a year of record-high prices and ruthless competition.
Her story reflects the struggle of millennials, those born in the 1980s or later, who have aged into the housing market at the worst possible time, as Fortune put it. They now make up 43% of home buyers, the most of any generation, according to the National Association of Realtors, while home prices continue on a startling trajectory, rising exponentially faster than American incomes.
Overall, the average millennial has experienced slower economic growth since entering the workforce than any other generation in U.S. history, The Washington Post reported in a story labeling millennials “the unluckiest generation in U.S. history.”
And now, as the price of housing shoots higher and higher into the clouds with no clear end in sight, millennials — and yes, Gen Z — are finding it nearly impossible to afford a home. Especially a home like the one their parents bought years prior.
How the housing market is making boomers richer and millennials poorer
I don't know about “the unluckiest generation in U.S. history” but they are certainly the whiniest one.
Gale should have lowered her expectations by a lot. A near 5K sq ft home is something you work up to.
The Mediterranean-style house — with its unique arched doorways and windows — was a big upgrade from their first home, which had only two bedrooms and an unfinished basement. The new one had six bedrooms, more than enough for Gale, her three siblings and her parents. It had a large, maze-like basement and a sprawling backyard with a spectacular view of Lone Peak.
“It was like a castle,” Gale recalled her 12-year-old self thinking.
Fast forward 29 years. Gale is now 41 years old, and when she visits the home where her parents still live, she appreciates its size and space even more — especially now as an adult who navigated the housing market frenzy in 2021, a year of record-high prices and ruthless competition.
Her story reflects the struggle of millennials, those born in the 1980s or later, who have aged into the housing market at the worst possible time, as Fortune put it. They now make up 43% of home buyers, the most of any generation, according to the National Association of Realtors, while home prices continue on a startling trajectory, rising exponentially faster than American incomes.
Overall, the average millennial has experienced slower economic growth since entering the workforce than any other generation in U.S. history, The Washington Post reported in a story labeling millennials “the unluckiest generation in U.S. history.”
And now, as the price of housing shoots higher and higher into the clouds with no clear end in sight, millennials — and yes, Gen Z — are finding it nearly impossible to afford a home. Especially a home like the one their parents bought years prior.
How the housing market is making boomers richer and millennials poorer
I don't know about “the unluckiest generation in U.S. history” but they are certainly the whiniest one.
Gale should have lowered her expectations by a lot. A near 5K sq ft home is something you work up to.
