Today’s homebuyers are often advised to look at houses that are about three to five times their annual income.
At age 25, Jacob Weber left the U.S. Army to pursue his American Dream: raising a family and owning a home.
Years later, half of that dream—home ownership—remains elusive. Instead, Weber, his wife, and their infant daughter are renting a relative’s property while they continue their search for a house within budget in their hometown of Ocean Shores, Washington.
Like Weber, many young would-be homebuyers are facing what they say is the growing impossibility of achieving homeownership. While housing analysts and realtors argue the dream is very much alive, they concede that for many, it may feel unreachable.
Gen Zers and young millennials who spoke to The Epoch Times highlighted a range of barriers on the path to owning a home, including sky-high prices and interest rates, cost of living, and simply not wanting to leave their hometown or family for somewhere cheaper.
Similar stories are common in online groups for first-time homebuyers.
Add to that the perennial issues for this age group: bad or no credit, college debt, and low wages, as observed in online forums and groups.
Housing market analysts, economists, and realtors who spoke to The Epoch Times confirmed the sentiment but predicted brighter days ahead.
The increased cost of living and high rental prices make the idea of saving money to put toward his American Dream increasingly difficult, Weber told The Epoch Times.
The Army veteran, who is now 30 years old and works as an automotive technician, finished his service in 2022. He began renting a family member’s vacation home, thinking it would be a temporary move.
At the time, his mindset was, “I don’t know what I’m doing. I just got out of the Army. How about I just crash here for a year or so until I figure it out?” Weber said.
Years later, he feels stuck, he said.
He and his wife had always dreamed of owning their own house with land. The goal seems unachievable now, due to what Weber said are astronomical prices and a scarce supply of homes in his area.
Even when both Weber and his wife were working, prices around their town seemed out of reach.
The median sale price of a home in Ocean Shores—population 8,200—hovers in the low to mid $300,000s. That’s below the U.S. median sale price of a home, listed at nearly $430,000 on Redfin.
Now, with his wife staying home to raise their young daughter, the feeling of unattainability is amplified.
“The American Dream has always been the husband works while the wife is there to take care of [their child],” he said.
If the Weber family still had a dual income, buying a home might be possible over time, the Army veteran said. But a couple thousand dollars of debt they have to pay off prolongs that timeline.
By Troy Myers
