--- title: 'Rent Forever: The Share of Millennials Who Say They''ll Never Own a Home Is Surging' description: A new report from Apartment List shows that the percentage of millennials who say they'll rent forever and never own a home has spiked. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-04-20T16:17:51.000Z' modified: '2023-04-20T16:17:51.000Z' section: Housing tags: - News word_count: 372 canonical: https://money.com/millennials-rent-forever-never-own-home/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A couple unloading packages in their new house](https://img.money.com/2023/04/News-Millennials-rent-forever.jpg) In the midst of a [tough housing market](https://money.com/buyers-sellers-housing-market-pessimism/) and soaring [mortgage rates](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/), more millennials than ever are saying they never plan to own a home. ## What the data shows [New survey data](https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/millennial-homeownership-2023) from Apartment List shows that in 2022, 24.7% of millennials said they plan to “always rent” rather than [buy a house](https://money.com/how-to-buy-a-house/). That’s nearly double the portion that said the same in 2018 (13.3%). Apartment List defines “millennials” as those born between 1981 and 1996. Here are the reasons 2022’s survey respondents gave for their decision to rent forever: - 74% said they cannot afford to buy a home right now - 42% said they like the flexibility of renting - 36% said they prefer to avoid home maintenance and other extra costs - 29% said buying a home is financially risky It’s no wonder most millennials are worried about money and general [home affordability](https://money.com/housing-affordability-lowest-level-in-history/). Borrowing costs are high while [home prices](https://money.com/home-prices-biggest-decline-since-2012/) have posted only modest declines after surging during the pandemic. ## Don't have the 20% down? No worries! ### With an FHA loan from Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030), you can purchase your first home with a down payment as low as 3.5%. Click on your state to see if you qualify today! [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/t86655bdaa38?ap_referrer=%2Fmillennials-rent-forever-never-own-home%2F) ## What the experts say Apartment List senior research associate Rob Warnock summed up the financial challenges aspiring young homeowners face like this: “For millennial renters who could not afford to buy a home in the earliest stages of the pandemic, homeownership opportunities waned dramatically in the years that followed,” he wrote in a blog post. “[Mortgage rates](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/) spiked, bringing modest relief to list prices but pushing monthly ownership costs even higher.” That’s not to mention the effect of persistent inflation on household budgets and the impact of a still-[struggling stock market](https://money.com/will-stock-market-rally-last/) on families’ ability to save for a [down payment](https://money.com/typical-down-payment-house-doubled/). ## Saving money is a smart move. Saving before applying for a mortgage is even smarter. ### Setting money aside in a savings account puts your dream of a new home within reach. To open an account with Discover®️, click below now. [Open an Account Today](https://money.com/pr/n5558c61a374?ap_referrer=%2Fmillennials-rent-forever-never-own-home%2F) ## Keep in mind Just last year, the number of [millennial homeowners](https://money.com/most-millennials-own-homes/) eclipsed the number of millennial renters, meaning that more than half of the generation now owns a home. That milestone came more slowly for millennials than it did for previous generations. A [recent report](https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/millennials-switch-renter-to-owner-majority/) from apartment search site RentCafe found that millennials became an owner-majority generation when the average member was 34 years old, compared to an average age of 32 for Gen X and 33 for Baby Boomers. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-rent-forever-never-own-home/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Housing", "item": "https://money.com/housing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Renting", "item": "https://money.com/renting/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Rent Forever: The Share of Millennials Who Say They'll Never Own a Home Is Surging" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-rent-forever-never-own-home/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/millennials-rent-forever-never-own-home/", "name": "Rent Forever: The Share of Millennials Who Say They'll Never Own a Home Is Surging", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-04-20T16:17:51.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-rent-forever-never-own-home/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-rent-forever-never-own-home/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2023-04-20T16:17:51.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Rent Forever: The Share of Millennials Who Say They'll Never Own a Home Is Surging", "articleSection": "Housing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/04/News-Millennials-rent-forever.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Millennials-rent-forever" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Hansen", "url": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/#author", "description": "Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2021/10/a_sarah-hansen.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "sarah.hansen@money.com", "alumniOf": "Northwestern University, New York University", "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-04-20T16:17:51.000Z", "description": "A new report from Apartment List shows that the percentage of millennials who say they'll rent forever and never own a home has spiked.", "abstract": "A new report from Apartment List shows that the percentage of millennials who say they'll rent forever and never own a home has spiked.", "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-rent-forever-never-own-home/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2023-04-20T16:17:51.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 372, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Housing in the United States", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_the_United_States" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Renting", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renting" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Millennials", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials" ] } ] } ] } ```