Why has home ownership become disproportionately inaccessible for young Americans?
Date
2026
Authors
Vij, Sehaj
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Victoria
Abstract
Young Americans are struggling to buy homes. This project asks why homeownership is less attainable for ages 25–34 and whether rising older-cohort incomes (ages 45–54) crowd out younger buyers. Using a cohort-based supply–demand framework, the theory predicts that stronger older purchasing power can raise housing demand and prices, reducing affordability for younger households. This is tested using annual time-series regressions of young-cohort homeownership on older-cohort income, young-cohort income, mortgage rates, unemployment, college attainment, and a linear time trend. The results show that young-cohort income is the strongest predictor of young homeownership, and the time trend is negative and statistically significant, indicating an important long-run decline in homeownership for ages 25–34. When young income is excluded from the model, older-cohort income becomes positive and statistically significant, suggesting it may be capturing broader affordability and macroeconomic trends that move with income over time rather than a stable, independent crowd-out effect.
Description
Keywords
home ownership, housing affordability, crowding out effect, income, Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)