More than one-third of Gen Z and millennial homebuyers need financial help from their parents for a downpayment to land their first pad amid skyrocketing housing prices across the country, according to a recent survey.
Dubbed “nepo” buyers — a reference to the “nepo baby” phenomenon where children of celebrities ride their coattails to gain a foothold on a career — a growing number in these younger generations have found the housing market increasingly unaffordable as so-called $300,000 “starter homes” have become a thing of the past.
“Nepo-homebuyers have a growing advantage over first-generation homebuyers,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather, whose real estate firm surveyed 3,000 US homeowners and renters.
“Because housing costs have soared so much, many young adults with family money get help from Mom and Dad even when they have jobs and earn a perfectly respectable income.”
Another 16% are anticipating to use an inheritance to help fund their downpayment, and 13% plan to live with their parents or other family members, according to Redfin’s report that was earlier reported on by Fortune.
“The bigger problem is that young Americans who don’t have family money are often shut out of homeownership. Many of them earn a perfectly good income, too, but they aren’t able to afford a home because they’re at a generational disadvantage,” Fairweather added.
