Almost 75% of Baby Boomers Skip Homebuying Resources

WASHINGTON – Homeownership feels out of reach for a majority of long-term renters, and especially so for baby boomers. But nearly 3/4 of baby boomers (72%) use no resources designed to help people become homeowners — significantly more than any other generation, according to a new survey from the nonprofit community development agency NeighborWorks America.

According to the survey, 59% of long-term renters — those who have been renting seven years or more — say homeownership doesn't feel possible for them, including 41% who say it doesn't feel possible at all.

A majority (51%) of baby boomers who are long-term renters strongly agree that homeownership isn't attainable for them, compared to 45% of both Generation X and millennials. Additionally, millennials and Generation Z homeowners are two to six times more likely than Generation X and baby boomers to have used different kinds of assistance or programs to purchase their homes, such as mortgage assistance, first-time homebuying programs or credit-building resources.

“By 2030, all baby boomers will be age 65 or older. Whether they're interested in homeownership or not, they need access to the services and programs that can help them age in place,” said NeighborWorks America's President and CEO Marietta Rodriguez. “How can this generational shift not have drastic implications for housing? Our homes should age with us, but what options are there for long-term renters? How do we ensure the safety and stability of this population for years to come?”

More than half of the long-term renters surveyed (55%) say there's a lack of loan assistance programs available to them, while 48% also report a lack of first-time homebuyer programs. Finding resources to help manage overall financial health, including credit card debt — with delinquencies at the highest rate in a decade — are also a challenge. Forty-six percent of long-term renters are worried about credit card debt impacting their ability to buy a home, and 45% say they lack financial planning resources.

NeighborWorks offered some solutions to homebuying challenges as the “silver tsunami” approaches:

• Housing counseling: In today's challenging market, with high interest rates and coming up with a down payment even harder, housing counseling can help people find affordable homes, overcome financial barriers and access opportunities like down payment assistance. Counselors work with clients to make sure homeownership is sustainable over the long term.

• Financial coaching: More than just saving for a home, financial health is building security to be able to respond to life's challenges and opportunities and remain in a stable situation.

• Home preservation: The goal of home preservation is keeping people in their homes. NeighborWorks network organizations like New Directions can help people age in place, preserve intergenerational wealth and provide security for families. The number of preserved homeownership clients NeighborWorks America served through its network increased by 33% from 9,056 to 12,025 between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2023. These include customers for whom a NeighborWorks network organization provided direct rehabilitation services, lending for rehabilitation, foreclosure mitigation counseling that resulted in retention of the home, refinancing or a reverse mortgage.

The survey was conducted by Morning Consult Jan. 20-21, 2024, among a sample of 2,204 adults. The interviews were conducted online, and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age and race by educational attainment. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

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