Authored by Martin Armstrong via The Burning Platform,
The American dream of homeownership is becoming increasingly dependent upon whether your parents have assets. A new analysis from Rocket Mortgage found that the share of home buyers under 35 purchasing property with a co-applicant over 55 increased 21% between 2018 and 2025, to about one in 30 younger buyers. Meanwhile, total home purchases among Americans under 35 have declined 15% over the same period. The cost of entering the housing market has increased so dramatically that family wealth is becoming a determining factor in who can purchase a home and who remains trapped renting.
We have reached the point where income alone tells us very little about a young person's financial circumstances. Two people can earn identical salaries, have comparable education, and work equally hard, yet live in completely different economic realities. One has parents who own their home outright, investment accounts, perhaps a family trust, and enough accumulated assets to help with a down payment or guarantee a mortgage. The other comes from a family that has no accumulated wealth to transfer. The first individual can begin building equity immediately while the second spends years trying to save enough money to enter the market. The difference is not necessarily intelligence, ambition, or wo
