April 6, 2026Updated April 7, 2026, 2:58 p.m. ET
Is the American dream of homeownership still realistic?
Perhaps not, according to many Americans. In a recent survey of more than 2,000 consumers, The Harris Poll found that many believe the dream is slipping further away. Across generations, respondents said that homeownership was too hard to break into – and that once achieved, it was too challenging, expensive, or both, to maintain.
This was the third time the company polled Americans about housing, and the results are becoming increasingly sobering.
“The market isn’t collapsing. It’s in a standoff,” said Libby Rodney, futurist and chief strategy officer at The Harris Poll, which shared the survey results exclusively with USA TODAY.
“Among Americans earning over $200,000 a year, nearly half say you need a $300k income to afford a home. Not to afford a nice home. Just a home. This is the American Dream, frozen.”
‘Never be able to afford a home’
While many of the survey respondents had gloomy views about homeownership, those feelings were more pronounced among younger generations.
For example, a whopping 68% of respondents agreed with the statement “homeownership feels less like a goal and more like a privilege.” But among millennials, the feeling was even stronger: 73% agreed.
And while 43% said they agreed with the statement “No matter how hard I work, I’ll never be able to afford a home I really love,” among Gen Z and millennials that number was a little more than half.
Finally, while 51% said they agreed that “The American Dream of owning a home is dead,” 57% of Gen Zers said they felt that way.
What are the hurdles to homeownership?
Younger respondents, more than other generations, believe there are many roadblocks keeping them from owning a home. Some 37% of Gen Zers agreed that not having enough capital for a down payment was standing in the way, more than the 31% across all generations who felt the same. The share of Gen Zers who blame student loan debt was more than double that of all Americans – 25% to 12%.
But one-third of Gen Z respondents also acknowledged that a lack of information or knowledge stood in their way, while 19% of all those questioned said so.
The growing costs associated with homeownership
Yet the grass isn’t always greener once Americans do manage to become homeowners. Costs are surging for everything from utilities, according to two-thirds of respondents, to property insurance, which 61% have experienced. One-half of people questioned said routine housing maintenance costs had increased, and agreed that those costs were “out of control.”
Shockingly, half of all Gen Z homeowners say they would “love to go back to renting,” more than double the share of all respondents. One-third of Gen Zers “regret buying the house I currently live in,” versus 20% of all generations.
“What began as an affordability issue has become a structural freeze with fewer entry points, fewer viable solutions, and growing skepticism that relief is coming,” The Harris Poll said in a statement accompanying the survey.
