Two buyers tour the same home. One earns more, yet the other one walks out as the owner.
In many cities, the deciding factor isn't the salary. It's family money.
In the priciest markets, home prices have raced far past local paychecks. Think Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Diego, Phoenix, and Seattle.
So buyers lean on something a paycheck can't give them. That means a check from mom and dad, or money passed down.
The math is unforgiving in these metros. Even a strong income can fall short of the down payment alone.
Parents are even saving ahead of time just to help their kids buy. A recent New York Post report said these markets increasingly run on generational wealth.
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The split between age groups is hard to miss. In one LendingTree survey, about 78% of Gen Z homeowners got help with their down payment.
Only 12% of baby boomers said the same. The share of all owners who got help has climbed to about 40%, up from 35% in 2023.
Some of that help is a straight gift. About 16% of owners say their parents chipped in on the down payment, and that jumps to 27% among Gen Z.
Others are tapping money left to them. Close to 24% of Gen Z and 15% of millennials used inheritance or trust funds to buy.
Many of them say they had no other way in. About a third of the Gen Z owners who got help say they couldn't have bought without it.
Picture a race where some runners start at the line. Others start halfway down the track.
The result is a market that leans older. Baby boomers are now the biggest group of buyers, at about 42% of all purchases.
Decades of rising home values left them with cash and equity to spend. First-time buyers, meanwhile, sit near a record low of about 21%.
That flips the usual picture, where young families did most of the buying. The people who most need a home to build wealth are the ones getting squeezed out.
For most Americans, a home is the main way they build wealth over a life. When getting in the door takes family money, the gap between families only grows.
Young buyers without family money often stay renters, even on a solid income. They are not behind on effort - they are behind on inheritance.
Renters feel the squeeze most. Every year they wait, prices and rents tend to climb a little more.
A paycheck used to be enough to start. In many cities, it no longer is.
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