If you've ever felt like you're doing everything right — holding down a job, putting money aside, trying to build something — yet owning a home still feels completely out of reach, you're not imagining it. The system really is stacked against you.
Homeownership, once considered a natural milestone of adult life, is becoming increasingly unattainable for younger generations. And no, it has nothing to do with avocado toast or too many holidays.
According to Federal Reserve data, Baby Boomers — those born roughly between 1946 and 1964 — now control 42% of all real estate wealth in the United States. Millennials, born between approximately 1981 and 1996, hold just 14%. That gap isn't a coincidence. It's the result of decades of compounding advantage.
Europe tells the same story
This isn't just an American problem. A 2023 Eurostat report found that nearly 75% of people over 55 in Europe own their home. Among those under 30, that figure barely reaches 20%.
Rents have soared across the continent. Interest rates have jumped sharply enough to make anyone think twice — or three times — before taking on a mortgage. In countries like the Netherlands, Austria, and beyond, younger buyers aren't really buyers at all anymore. They're renters by default, priced out before they even start.
The "we'll inherit the houses" illusion
There's a comforting narrative that says it'll all work itself out — that Boomers will eventually pass their wealth down to their children and the gap will close. The reality is far messier.
Most older homeowners won't simply hand over their assets. Not because they don't love their kids, but because they'll need that capital to fund their own retirement. Elder care costs are rising sharply across Europe, and for many families, selling the property is the only realistic way to cover those expenses.
The family home — often seen as a future inheritance — may need to be sold just to pay for the care of the person who built it.
On top of that, families were larger a few decades ago. When an estate does get passed down, it's often split between multiple siblings, diluting whatever financial advantage might have existed.
But will anyone actually be able to buy these homes?
Here's where the picture gets even more complicated. Property prices across much of Europe have climbed so far beyond wage growth that a genuine question now hangs over the market: when older homeowners eventually do sell, who will actually be able to buy?
If the pool of potential buyers keeps shrinking — because younger generations simply can't afford to purchase at these prices — demand will eventually dry up. Experts say the current housing bubble holds only as long as there are willing and able buyers at these price levels. When that group disappears, prices will fall. But will that be a genuine opportunity for younger people, or just the opening act of another financial crisis?
I know this tension personally. When my partner and I decided to buy, prices hadn't yet reached today's extremes — but we were starting from a deeply negative position. My family couldn't offer any financial support, and my partner was clawing his way out of a Swiss franc mortgage trap that had already cost him his previous home.
That was the moment we made a decision: if we ever wanted a home of our own, we had to go all in. Over the next decade, we renovated two houses. My partner worked abroad for long stretches. I held things together at home. There were genuinely hard periods — especially after our daughter was born — and more sacrifices than I can count. But looking back, every bit of it was worth it.
Not everyone has that option. And that's exactly the problem.
The housing market wasn't designed for most people
The current system rewards those who already have capital — whether built through years of well-paid work or inherited through family wealth. Everyone else faces a stark choice:
Rent forever, or take on enormous risk, long-term debt, and personal sacrifice just to get a foothold on the property ladder.
Meanwhile, the wealthiest 10% of households continue to accumulate more. In the US, the top decile controls nearly 44% of all real estate. Europe isn't far behind. Half of all households are essentially scraping by on what's left.
The uncomfortable truth is that this isn't a personal failure. It's a structural one. And until that structure changes, the gap between those who own and those who can only dream of owning will keep widening.
