Vij, Sehaj2026-04-202026-04-202026https://hdl.handle.net/1828/23646Young 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.enhome ownershiphousing affordabilitycrowding out effectincomeJamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)PosterDepartment of Economics