Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Tuesday, January 7th, 2025

Why the American dream of owning property is dying

Author:     Josh Kirby
Source:     The Telegraph (U.K.)
Publication Date:     04 January 2025 | 12:00pm GMT
 Link: Why the American dream of owning property is dying
Stephan:  

Like virtually everyone I knew buying a first home for my wife and myself was a prime objective.  It was 1969, I was 27, and the managing editor of Seapower Magazine. My wife didn’t work and was in the 7th month of her pregnancy. We bought the house in Chevy Chase, Maryland just past the border with D.C. for $68,000. It was not a large house, but on a nice street, three bedrooms, a dining room, and small study in a good neighborhood, but there was nothing special about it. It was all so very typical. I just looked the house up and today it is appraised at $1,429,000. Single homes are being bought by billionaire investment groups by the thousands today and rented, driving prices up to a point where few 27-year-old couples can buy one. Then there are the other obstacles outlined in this article. This all dates back to the Reagan administration when the Republican Party rigged the tax system to obscenely favor the rich, and it began creating billionaires.

The American Dream has long been tied up with the aspiration of homeownership: with a flag draped outside and a white picket fence, of raising a family and building a stake in your community through property.

But the reality of that image appears to be faltering.

Kelcie Lesko, 28, and Tim Khalil, 30, gave up on buying their first home earlier this year after having 15 offers rejected on properties in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Despite having stretched their initial budget by $80,000 (£65,000) and making an offer for $380,000 on a two-bedroom house, it wasn’t enough – and the couple have resigned themselves to renting.

Young, disillusioned British people may find comfort in the fact that Americans have it tougher. In Britain, the average age of first-time buyers has stepped up from 32 to 33 in the past year, according to Halifax; across the Atlantic, it has risen from 35 to 38 since 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

This year, American first-time buyers made up just 24pc of the market share, a sharp drop from 32pc in 2023, and the lowest it […]

Read the Full Article