What Are Buyers Sacrificing to Afford a Home?

Making financial sacrifices to save toward a goal like buying a house is a tried and true strategy. Zillow Economic Research delved into what buyers are giving up and taking on in order to get into a home:

• 55% of buyers make some type of financial sacrifice in order to purchase their home.
• The most common sacrifices include reducing spending on entertainment (25% of buyers reported sacrificing this), picking up additional work (18%) and postponing or cancelling vacation plans (16%).
• Buyers also reduced or eliminated saving for retirement (13%) and postponed or cancelled health care services (8%).

Younger buyers are much more likely to say they made financial sacrifices in order to purchase their home: 71% of Gen Z and millennial buyers did, compared with 57% of Gen X, and 33% of Baby Boomer and Silent Generation buyers.

Younger buyers also are more likely to make serious sacrifices: 13% of Gen Z and millennial buyers forwent or skipped health services compared with 8% of Gen X and 3% of Boomer and Silent Generation buyers. Similarly, 11% of Gen Z and millennial buyers lowered or cancelled some type of insurance coverage, a greater share than the 7% of Gen X and 3% of Baby Boomer and Silent Generation buyers.

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