This article originally appeared on LearnVest.
Members of Gen Y have made it pretty clear that they aren’t ready to take the homeownership plunge anytime soon.
They aren’t quite ready to move out of Mom and Dad’s basement, and having a piece of the American Dream no longer seems to be a priority for them.
Looks like Gen Z, however, isn’t going to follow in those footsteps. According to recent research, Gen Z—those born roughly between 1994 and 2010—is actually on track to reverse the trend set by their predecessors. According to this survey by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, a whopping 82% of 13- to 17-year-olds say homeownership is the most important part of achieving the American Dream. And nearly every single teen surveyed (97%) believes they’ll own a home in the future.
In fact, despite research suggesting that today’s teens make up the most entrepreneurial generation yet, 77% of survey respondents said they’d rather own a home than own a business.
Just how serious are these teens about reaching that goal? Apparently, a lot. 53% would give up social media or do twice as much homework every night for a year if it meant they could buy their own place.
And while it’s easy to write off these youngsters as having their heads in the clouds, they actually seem pretty realistic about their future dream home: When asked to estimate how much they’d pay for their digs, most teens guessed about $274,000, which is almost exactly the median cost of a home today, according to the U.S. Census. (Still, more than half of teens said they think their parents will probably help them buy their first home.)
Most members of Gen Z expect to own their first home by age 28, which is three years younger than the median age of first-time homeowners. But they also have a lot of milestones they want to reach first: Most expect to earn an advanced college degree and/or get hitched prior to purchasing their property.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether these teens’ home-buying aspirations are realistic—or mere pipe dreams. But at least they’re thinking about their futures. If you’ve got an adolescent at home, give him a little insight into the world of real estate by letting him play around with one of these digital house-hunting tools.
Want more? Check out these articles from LearnVest:
Homeownership: No Longer Part of the American Dream?
