Gen-Z Buyer Profile

Ready or not, members of Generation Z are buying homes. Americans born after 1995 account for three percent of all homebuyers over the past year.

About 82 percent of Generation Z believe that homeownership is key to achieving the American Dream, per data from the National Association of Realtors, and 97 percent believe they will own a home someday. Based on Zillow data provided exclusively to MarketWatch, more than 66 percent of Gen-Z buyers spent less than three months in their home search prior to purchasing, whereas 54 percent of Millennials did, and less than half of Gen Xers, their parents' generation, did. Indeed, being raised by the generation hit hardest by the recession may have a formative impact on Gen Z buyers, but it as currently unclear how that may manifest.

Gen Z buyers are better off than other members of their generation: 67 percent of them used a gift or loan from a family member or friend as part of their down payment. “It’s a middle-class advantage to accept money and gifts from family and friends to buy a home,” Olsen said. They like to stay close to family and friends. They’re also more likely than older generations to purchase a home in the same neighborhood as their previous residence — and less likely to move to a new city in the state they already lived in.

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