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By Omar Mohammed
Reporter, Economy & Finance
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Gen Z—those born between 1997 to 2012—is concerned about housing costs more than previous generations, including its millennial predecessors, naming it as a bigger issue than the economy as an issue ahead of November election.
Read more: How to Get a Mortgage
Asked what were the important issues that would decide their vote in the presidential election in the fall, 91 percent of Gen Z voters said affordable housing was the top issue compared to 87 percent of millennials, 83 percent of Gen X and 80 percent of baby boomers, according to a survey on the real estate platform Redfin.
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The economy garnered 82 percent of Gen Z responses, but it was the top issue for the other demographic groups polled.
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The survey included 3,000 property owners and renters and was done in February and the results were revealed this month.
The poll's results comes amid economic challenges that young people are facing. They are confronted with an economy hit by high inflation and elevated interest rates that has pushed up borrowing costs including for home loans. Mortgage rates at near two-decade highs, along with pricey homes, has made severely tough for first-time homebuyers to buy a home.
Read more: Compare the Best Mortgages for First-Time Homebuyers
With owning a home beyond the reach of a lot of young Americans, they are forced to stay in rental homes, which has in turn escalated competition for those properties and contributed to high leasing costs. Redfin pointed out that median U.S. asking price for rent has soared more than 20 percent since 2019.
"Housing affordability is a cornerstone of this year's presidential election because even though the economy is fairly strong, unemployment is low and wages are rising, buying a home feels impossible for many Americans," Redfin senior economist Elijah de la Campa said. "This is particularly the case for young people, who have seen the cost of starter homes increase twice as fast as incomes."
While young voters are paying attention to other concerns, like immigration and reproductive rights, housing is top of mind leading to the election.
Read more: How to Buy a House With Bad Credit
"They're more likely to cite housing affordability as a factor in their vote because it directly impacts the roof over their head, their lifestyle and their ability to build wealth," de la Campa said.
But the economy is still an issue for young people and recent trends may reveal why.
On Friday, despite a jobs report that showed the economy added 272,000 jobs, for young people the unemployment rate was much higher than the national average. The jobless rate for ages 20 to 24 was nearly double that of the country as a whole, according to economists.
This is at a time when some of these Americans are graduating from college and high school.
"This is where we talk about the 'vibecession' where we see overall good numbers, but the numbers are very bad for certain groups," Michele Evermore, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a former Department of Labor official, told Newsweek on Friday. "Things feel bad for young people who are coming into an unprecedented labor market with high inflation for the past few years and it's a challenging labor market for young people."
The Biden campaign, in response to Newsweek's request for comment, pointed to the president's speech in March in Nevada and his other proposals in which he announced plans to tackle elevated housing costs.
These included a plan to offer a $400 an annual tax credit over the next two years for mortgage payments for first-time homebuyers and those looking to move into a bigger home for those making up to $200,000 a year.
Biden also mentioned his administration's efforts to what they described as "rent gouging" by landlords. The Department of Justice, along with the Federal Trade Commission is taking legal steps in an attempt to crack down on alleged unfair raising of rents.
Newsweek contacted the Trump campaign for comment via email.
Update 6/10/24, 12:30 p.m. ET: This story was updated with response from the Biden campaign.
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