Fewer Americans are planning to buy a home anytime soon, with rising costs and economic uncertainty pushing ownership further out of reach, especially for younger adults.
A new national poll released this week shows just 25% of non-homeowners expect to purchase a home within the next five years — the lowest level recorded since the question was first asked more than a decade ago.
Another 28% say they may buy within 10 years, while nearly half — 45% — do not expect to purchase a home in the foreseeable future. The shift marks a sharp decline from the mid-2010s, when as many as half of non-homeowners anticipated buying within five years.
The data reflects a housing market many Americans increasingly view as out of sync with their financial reality. About 67% of U.S. adults say now is a bad time to buy a home, continuing a five-year stretch where most have held a negative outlook. While that figure has improved slightly from recent lows, it remains far from the more optimistic sentiment that dominated much of the early 2000s.
Affordability appears to be a driving factor. The poll was conducted earlier this month as median home prices hovered around $409,000, with mortgage rates still well above the record lows seen during the early pandemic years. At the same time, broader economic concerns have intensified, contributing to a more cautious outlook among would-be buyers.
Younger adults are feeling the impact most sharply. Just 29% of non-homeowners ages 18 to 34 say they expect to buy within five years, roughly half the share reported a decade ago. Meanwhile, the portion of young adults who say they do not expect to buy at all in the foreseeable future has more than doubled.
Even so, the data suggests many younger Americans have not abandoned homeownership entirely — they are simply delaying it. A growing share now expect to buy within a longer, 10-year window instead.
Limited housing supply is also playing a role. Most current homeowners say they are unlikely to sell in the near future, keeping inventory tight and contributing to sustained price pressure. Only about one-third of homeowners say they plan to sell within the next decade.
Despite the challenges, expectations for home prices remain strong. Roughly 65% of Americans believe prices in their area will rise over the next year, reinforcing concerns that affordability pressures may persist.
The findings underscore a broader shift in how Americans view the housing market — not as an immediate opportunity, but as a longer-term goal that is increasingly difficult to reach.
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