Gen Z · Data

Gen Z isn't failing to buy. They've decided renting is the investment.

The typical first-time buyer is now 40. Most Gen Z renters say renting is the smarter money move. Here is what the data says, and what it means for NYC landlords.

Gabe Einhorn, co-founder of NessooPublished Oct 16, 2026

3 min read

The short answerNessoo Report · nessoo.com

Most Gen Z renters are not just priced out of buying. 72% say renting is a better financial strategy than buying, while the typical first-time buyer is now 40 years old.

→First-time buyers fell to 21% of all buyers, the lowest share on record.
→Gen Z made up just 4% of home buyers.
→67% of Gen Z struggle to afford housing, vs 36% of boomers.

Every few months someone writes the same headline.

Gen Z can’t buy a home.

It is true. It is also the least interesting part of the story.

Here is what the numbers actually say, and why I think most NYC landlords are reading them wrong.

How old is the typical first-time home buyer?

That is the median age of a first-time buyer in the US right now. An all-time high.

First-time buyers made up just 21% of all buyers. That is the lowest share since national tracking started in 1981.

And Gen Z? 4% of all home buyers.

Owning a home used to be something you did in your twenties.
Now it is something you do around your 40th birthday.

Is Gen Z priced out, or opting out?

Both. But the second part gets ignored.

In a national survey of more than 2,000 renters, Gen Z was asked how they see renting. Here is what came back:

72% said renting is a better financial strategy than buying. Not a fallback. A strategy.
83% said renting lets them save for life experiences instead of locking their money into a mortgage.
Nearly half said they put travel and career growth ahead of buying a home.

That is not a generation that failed a test.
That is a generation that looked at the test and decided not to take it yet.

To be fair, it is not all choice. The same survey found 75% see leasing as a short-term necessity. Mortgage rates and home prices were the top reasons they gave for not buying.

So it is both at once. They can’t buy. And a lot of them don’t feel like they are missing much.

How hard is housing for Gen Z, really?

Hard.

67% of Gen Z say they struggle to afford their rent or mortgage.
For millennials it is 53%. Gen X, 54%.
For baby boomers, 36%.

That is a 31 point gap between the youngest adults and the oldest.

So no, Gen Z is not renting because renting is easy. Renting is expensive too. It is just the door that is actually open.

What does 18 years of renting cost in NYC?

Let’s do the math on the gap.

Say you start renting at 22. If you follow the national median, you buy your first home at 40. That is 18 years as a renter.

At NYC’s median asking rent of $4,150:

$4,150 x 12 months x 18 years = $896,400.

That assumes rent never goes up, which it will. So the real number is higher.

That is not a renter passing through.
That is a customer for almost two decades.

What it means for NYC landlords

Here is how I see it.

A lot of owners still treat young renters like a one-year stop on the way to somewhere else. Sign them, collect rent, turn the unit over in 12 months, do it again.

That model made sense when people bought homes at 30.

It doesn’t when they buy at 40, or decide not to buy at all.

If renting is the investment for this generation, then the apartment is the product they are investing in. Here is what I would tell any landlord who wants to keep them:

Build for lifers. Price renewals like you want the renter to stay. Every turnover costs you a vacant month, a fresh listing and a new search.
Make the money part clear. This is the generation that struggles most to afford housing. Show every cost upfront. No surprises at signing.
Remember they are planning. 83% say renting frees up money for their life. Respect that, and they will stay where it works.
Make it easy to prove they are good for it. Young renters often have real income and thin paperwork. The faster they can show they qualify, the faster your unit fills.

The landlords who figure this out early will keep the same tenants for years.

The ones who don’t will keep listing the same apartment every summer.

“Stop treating Gen Z like they're passing through. Build for lifers.”
Gabe Einhorn, co-founder of Nessoo

Frequently asked questions

What is the median age of a first-time home buyer?

40, an all-time high, based on buyers from July 2024 to June 2025. First-time buyers made up 21% of all buyers, the lowest share since tracking began in 1981.

What share of home buyers are Gen Z?

4%, up from 3% the year before.

Do Gen Z renters think renting is better than buying?

Most do. In a survey of more than 2,000 US renters, 72% of Gen Z respondents said renting is a better financial strategy than buying, and 83% said it lets them save for life experiences instead of a mortgage.

Is housing harder to afford for Gen Z than for older generations?

Yes. 67% of Gen Z say they struggle to afford their rent or mortgage, compared with 53% of millennials, 54% of Gen X and 36% of baby boomers.

Cite this

Einhorn, Gabe. “Gen Z isn't failing to buy. They've decided renting is the investment.” Nessoo Report, Nessoo (nessoo.com), Oct 16, 2026.

About Gabe Einhorn

Co-founder of Nessoo, the verify-first rental marketplace in New York. He writes every Nessoo Report. nessoo.com

Sources