May 31, 2026
For generations, buying a home has been treated as the ultimate symbol of adulthood and the cornerstone of the American dream. But for many young Americans, that dream is starting to look less like a solo achievement and more like a family project.
More than 75% of homes across the country are now unaffordable for the typical household, according to a recent Bankrate report. And for first-time buyers, the path is narrowing even further: just 24% of home purchases last year came from first-time buyers, down from 50% in 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.
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Now, more young adults are turning to a new mortgage strategy: their parents.
“I save and I can afford a couch, but I can’t afford a house,” Jennifer Gross, a first-time homebuyer in Phoenix, told the Wall Street Journal. “What am I working for day after day?”
Gross recently moved into a four-bedroom Phoenix home with a three-car garage, a brick-bordered pool and a hot tub — a purchase that became possible with help from her dad.
A family affair
Jennifer’s dad, Mark Gross, stepped in to help both of his daughters buy homes, but there was one rule attached. He set a budget of up to $700,000 and asked that they stay within two miles of his home.
Jennifer ended up finding a place at $625,000, just an eight-minute bike ride away. The mortgage is under her father’s name and she contributes $2,200 a month toward the payments. A few months earlier, he bought Jennifer’s sister, Jessica Locati, a home nearby, helping fulfill their late mother’s wish that the family stay close together.
“Face value, there is immediate judgement, my dad bought me a house,” Jennifer said. But she explained her family didn’t grow up wealthy. Instead, older generations in the family carefully saved and invested over time, putting them in a position to help the next generation.
Jon Brooks, co-founder of Momentum Realty, said he’s seeing more parents step in to help adult children buy homes, particularly in markets where wages have failed to keep up with rising housing costs over the last several years.
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“Parents are becoming the “bridge” between today’s housing affordability reality and the traditional path to homeownership,” Brooks told Moneywise.
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The dream got more expensive
Family support can take many forms — from helping with a down payment and co-signing a loan to buying a home outright. As housing costs, rents and everyday expenses continue to rise, more young Americans are finding it difficult to buy a home on their own.
Years before her father offered to buy her a house, Gross spent years chasing cheaper rent. At one point, her search for affordability left her with a nearly two-hour daily commute.
And she’s far from alone. According to the National Association of Realtors, 22% of first-time homebuyers used a gift or loan from family or friends to help with a down payment in 2025.
Frances Katzen, founder of The Katzen Team at Douglas Elliman, said family wealth is playing an increasingly important role in who can successfully buy a home.
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“It is creating a two-speed market,” Katzen told Moneywise. “Buyers with access to generational wealth are able to enter earlier, move more decisively and secure better positions. Buyers without that support are taking longer to build the same level of readiness and often need to adjust their expectations around timing, price point or location.”
For Jessica and James Torrence, family support made all the difference. The Savannah couple and their three children were squeezed into a 900-square-foot apartment and were struggling to find a home within their $250,000 budget. Then James’ mother stepped in.
After joining the couple on home tours, she offered to help them stretch their budget. In the end, she contributed $155,000 toward a four-bedroom home priced at $375,000, helping keep their mortgage payment to roughly $1,900 a month.
“You are so grateful that somebody wants to give you money, but you also don’t want to ask for too much,” Jessica told the WSJ. “If somebody is offering to buy you a house, you need to take their input. That’s just how it goes.”
Getting a foot in the door looks different these days
For younger buyers trying to break into the housing market, the playbook has changed.
Instead of jumping straight into a detached home, many are starting smaller with condos or townhomes. Others are expanding their search farther outside city centers, looking at homes with rental income potential or even buying with friends and family to help split costs.
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Brooks said one of the biggest shifts he’s seeing is that young buyers are becoming less focused on the price tag itself and more focused on what they can realistically afford each month.
“They are structuring deals around monthly affordability rather than headline home values,” he said. “They’re watching interest rates very closely.”
For families considering helping a child buy a home, Katzen said it’s important to think beyond the purchase itself and consider how that support fits into the family’s broader financial goals.
That means considering how a gift, loan or co-purchase could affect long-term goals such as retirement savings, liquidity and preserving wealth for the future. The most successful arrangements, she says, are often those with clear expectations and a defined structure, whether that’s through gifting strategies, co-ownership agreements or trusts.
“If it is approached thoughtfully, it becomes part of a broader wealth plan that benefits both generations,” she said.
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Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based staff reporter at Moneywise covering personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and New York University, and her work has appeared on platforms including Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and Apple News.
