Owning a home seems like a primal urge. It’s good for a person’s well-being and it’s a sound investment that contributes to the economy, both locally and nationally. That’s why governments create laws, bureaucracies and tax codes to keep the real estate engine humming through the market’s peaks and troughs. But in the past decade, home prices have lurched out of reach for many younger adults. While political figures grasp at new and sometimes extreme solutions, it’s worth grounding ourselves in facts. Here’s the breakdown.
The 69.2% Peak
Almost 7 in 10 Americans owned a home in 2004, more than ever before or since. In 1940, before the American dream meant a single-family home with a white picket fence, the homeownership rate was just 44 percent. New Deal reforms and the post-WWII economic boom boosted that to 62 percent by 1960, and it hasn’t varied much since. Today’s rate of 65 percent is just 1.3 points below the 25-year average, but that’s enough to trigger industry alarm.
5x = Unaffordable
Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported that the median price for a single-family home in 2024 was a record $412,500, five times the median household income. That ratio is essential to gauging affordability. Home prices have increased more than 900 percent since 1975, but salaries haven’t kept up. Over that same period, household income increased by just 91 percent.
40 AND NEW TO THIS
Today’s median first-time home buyer is older than ever at age 40. First-timers made just 21 percent of purchases in 2025, an all-time low. Half are married, 25 percent are single women and just 10 percent are single men. The remaining 15 percent were not specified by the National Association of Realtors. Almost a third had children under 18. Baby boomers (ages 60–78) bought 42 percent of all homes.
The $80,394 Shortfall
The gap between median income ($77,609) and the recommended income ($158,003) to afford an average-priced home listed in Idaho ($599,450) last July was sixth-largest in the nation. Six of the 10 biggest gaps were in western states like Nevada and Montana, per Realtor.com. Iowa was most affordable with a $431 gap, but incomes fell short in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Buyers should earn at least $158K in Utah, $99K in Texas and $210K in Massachusetts.
44 Fir Trees
That’s how many 80-footers are chopped down to build a typical 2,600-square-foot home. Framing alone requires 22 trees, which are reduced to 16,380 board feet. Lumber is often the costliest homebuilding material, though concrete and plumbing are close behind. The cost of framing lumber rose 17 percent in 2024, and tariffs could take it higher. But Reason Foundation contends that land-use codes, zoning and other government red tape contribute 24 percent to the cost of a single-family home.
1/4 in Cash
Today, 26 percent of buyers pay cash for homes, more than double the average between 2003 and 2010. Many use equity from a previous sale, often in a pricier market. Wall Street doesn’t need mortgages either. Institutional investors were blamed for rising prices after a post-pandemic buying binge, but reports say they’re quietly exiting the field. Airbnb is another housing bogeyman; last July, short-term rentals represented just 1.2 percent of America’s 148.3 million housing units.
‘2008 Level’
The domino effect of banks holding mortgages to uninsurable property could trigger the next big financial crisis, as U.S. Sens. Tim Sheehy of Montana and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island wrote in a recent op-ed for The New York Times. Four in 10 Americans reside in flood-prone coastal counties that are at risk from rising sea levels and extreme weather events. Many more areas are vulnerable to wildfires and other natural disasters that can wipe out large swaths of housing.
This story appears in the April 2026 issue of Deseret Magazine. Learn more about how to subscribe.