“The Real American Housing Crisis: What’s Happening to Our Future Homeowners?” finds that just 19% of non-homeowners believe they can buy a home within the next five years, a record low
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (July 16, 2026) – HomeServices of America has released a new white paper stating that the residential real estate industry has misdiagnosed its most urgent long-term challenge, focusing its attention on sellers at a moment when the far more consequential crisis is unfolding among the next generation of homebuyers who have not yet entered the market at all.
The white paper, The Real American Housing Crisis: What’s Happening to Our Future Homeowners?, draws on data from Gallup, Federal Reserve, U.S. Census Bureau, NAR and Realtor.com to make the case that current industry dialogue around Days on Market, price adjustments and listing visibility has been framed around a seller population that, by nearly every financial measure, is thriving – – while the population genuinely being priced out of homeownership goes largely unaddressed.
Total U.S. homeowner equity has reached $35 trillion, an all-time high, following a decade in which national home values appreciated 75 to 90 percent. The typical mortgage-holding homeowner now carries $302,000 in equity. Baby Boomers alone account for 55 percent of all sellers and 42 percent of all buyers, moving through the market with equity-fueled flexibility unavailable to first-time buyers.
At the same time, the white paper finds that the share of non-homeowners who expect to buy a home within five years has fallen to just 19 percent in 2026, a record low, and down from a range of 41 to 49 percent as recently as 2013 to 2018.
Among non-homeowners aged 18 to 34, the historic engine of first-time buyer activity, that figure has nearly been cut in half over the same period, from 57 percent to 29 percent.
Citing the Realtor.com 2026 Generational Wealth & Housing Report, the white paper further finds that delayed homeownership carries a measurable and compounding financial penalty. Data shows that buying a home before age 30 is linked to a 22.5 percent higher net worth by age 50 compared to renting.
That benefit is cut in half by the late 30s and disappears entirely after age 43. With the average time required to save for a down payment now stretching to nearly a decade, the paper notes that today’s typical saver is on pace to purchase precisely when that wealth advantage evaporates.
The white paper also examines the disproportionate impact of the affordability crisis on Black and Hispanic households, finding that the homeownership gap between white and black households, which is now more than 30 percentage points. That is a wider percentage than in 1968 when the Fair Housing Act was passed.
Says Chris Kelly, President & CEO of HomeServices of America: “The data doesn’t support a narrative of seller distress. Sellers hold $35 trillion in equity. The real crisis is on the other side of the transaction. We are in an environment where teachers, nurses, young professionals and dual-income households without generational wealth behind them have done the math and rationally concluded that the path to ownership is closed, or at best, sharply impeded. An industry that prioritizes short-term positioning over the long-term accessibility of the market for future buyers is, in effect, consuming its own future.”
The paper argues that efforts to limit housing information, inventory visibility and pricing transparency risk compounding the problem further, warning that practices designed to protect short-term seller leverage may ultimately weaken the pipeline of future homeowners, customers and transactions on which the industry’s own long-term health depends.
ABOUT HOMESERVICES OF AMERICA
HomeServices of America is, through its operating companies, the country’s preeminent provider of homeownership services, including brokerage, mortgage, franchising, title, insurance and relocation services. HomeServices of America is the owner of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchise network. HomeServices is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a consolidated subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. HomeServices’ operating companies offers integrated real estate services, including brokerage services, mortgage originations, title and closing services, property and casualty insurance, home warranties and other homeownership services. Information about HomeServices is available at www.homeservices.com.
