A majority of current renters in the U.S. say they can’t afford to buy a home, with over half of Americans saying that they are pessimistic about ever achieving their goal of homeownership, per a new CNN poll.
CNN’s study found that 86% of current renters in the United States can’t afford to buy a home as one hallmark of the American dream drifts increasingly out of reach for thousands of families.
“Buying a home is absolutely something we would love to do,” 39-year-old father Brent Bjornsen told CNN Business. “It seems out of reach.”
“We’re straddled with seemingly insurmountable debt,” Bjornsen said. “Home ownership seems impossible … and that hurts for two kids of Baby Boomers and feels like a disappointment.”
A $1 MILLION STARTER HOME IS THE NEW NORMAL IN OVER 200 CITIES
CNN reporter Matt Egan said Monday that of poll respondents who can’t currently afford to buy a home, a majority are extremely doubtful that they will ever be able to purchase one.
“Fifty-four percent say it’s not too likely or not at all likely that they’ll ever be able [to buy a home],” Egan said.
“That really speaks to a lot of pessimism here about the American dream, how it feels like it’s out of reach politically,” Egan said. “You could see how this would be an issue for the party in power and, economically, it’s a problem too because, look, homeownership remains the ticket to wealth generation. So this is just widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots.”
Some Americans, including Jeremy Andersson, a 40-year-old father of twins, have lost hope that they will ever own a home.
“We have given up on homeownership,” Andersson told the outlet. “We felt the societal pressure to buy a house because that’s the American Dream, right? Have a family and buy a house.”
“I’m not going to pay $350,000 for a run-down house. It almost seems laughable. We can’t find anything affordable for a family of four,” Andersson said. “I’m not going to play your game anymore. I’m done.”
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“At first, I wondered if I was a failure as a father or husband because I can’t get my kids a lawn to play on,” he said. “It’s taken a lot of soul-searching to understand this is not my fault. It’s the fault of a poorly planned system.”
Even starter homes, which are traditionally smaller, more affordable options for young families and other first-home buyers, are becoming increasingly expensive.
These days, the typical starter home is worth at least $1 million in 237 cities, the most ever, according to new findings published by Zillow. Five years ago, just 84 cities met that criteria. Zillow defines a starter home as being among those in the lowest third of home values in a given region.
Fox Business’ Nora Colomer and Megan Henney contributed to this report.
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