Sherwood News

Gen Z is jumping into the housing market wherever they can afford it

There’s a pretty strong correlation between lower house prices and higher Gen Z ownership... but even the competition for affordable housing is pushing prices up.

Claire Yubin Oh

3/17/25 11:51AM

Record high housing costs and still-elevated mortgage rates have frozen some parts of the housing market. But younger generations haven’t given up on their homeowning dreams entirely — instead, Gen Z is just jumping in the housing market wherever they can afford to do so.

Reported by Axios over the weekend, Zoomers took up 13% of US’ home purchase applications in 2024, up from 10% the year before, according to new data from property information service CoreLogic. Indeed, Gen Z is buying homes in more affordable areas like the popular Midwest, where median house prices mostly lingered below $250,000 in 2024 compared to the national median of $332,000, while pricier coastal areas lagged behind in their share of Gen Z homebuyers.

It’s not just where the younger generation is buying that is interesting, but how: some aspiring homeowners are getting creative, like buying properties with friends or investing in homes that they will never live in.

But as the most affordable areas get more attention, they are also, invariably, becoming more expensive — the Midwest is home to three of the five metro areas where home prices are rising the fastest, per a new data analyzed by real estate brokerage Redfin. That includes a record 20% median home sale price jump in Milwaukee in the year ending this February, compared to a national average of 3.2%.

Hyunsoo Rim

hardly working

5/27/26

Teens aren’t getting summer jobs like they used to — this year could be worse than ever

Teen summer hiring in the US might hit its lowest level since federal tracking began, new report finds.

Saleah Blancaflor

5/15/26

From Desi Arnaz to SpaceX: Understanding the rules of the modern economy

We talked with “Planet Money” author Alex Mayyasi about how AI might help or replace you, the superstar effect, and how the compounding effect extends beyond money.

Globes covered with various currencies suspended in space

Millie Giles5/8/26

Ahead of Mother’s Day, Google searches for “same day flower delivery” have ticked up a little earlier this year

If you’ve already made plans for a Mother’s Day gift in advance of this Sunday, congratulations. But if alarm bells are suddenly ringing, consider this a gentle reminder that, like a sizable share of the US population this time of year often does, you can still scrape together some last-minute flowers for the woman who carried you for nine months.

Data from Google Trends reveals that searches for “same day flower delivery” spike in the US in May every year, when Mother’s Day takes place. As we noted last February, the same query also gains traction around Valentine’s Day.

This year, however, it appears that searches for last-minute flowers have remained elevated in the last two months after the usual peak in February — with the search interest this April actually exceeding that seen around Cupid’s Day.

Honestly, we’re not sure why searches are spiking a little early. One explanation might be that Passover and Easter have overlapped at the start of April, and Americans wanted to celebrate with some flowers. Maybe it’s a host of Claude bots that are now running errands for AI-obsessed execs — or perhaps Americans are just impulse-buying some seasonal spring blooms after an unusually warm March, without a particular occasion.