Gallup Poll: Only 25 Percent to Buy Home Within 5 Years

Homeownership rates are unlikely to increase anytime soon, a Gallup poll released Wednesday showed, with just 25% of nonhomeowners saying they expect to buy a home within five years and 23% within 10, the lowest figures since the questions were first asked in 2013.

The poll of 1,006 Americans aged 18 and older conducted April 1-14 revealed that only 5% of nonhomeowners said they would buy a home within the next year and 45% said they don't see buying a home in the foreseeable future. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

No fewer than 41% of respondents expected to buy a home within five years when Gallup asked the question in surveys conducted between 2013 and 2018. Also, the combined percentage who were planning to buy within five or 10 years, 48%, is the lowest that Gallup has recorded.

More than two-thirds of renters (68%) said the cost of owning a home, including a down payment, is the major barrier to purchasing. Gallup said in its 2013 poll, the figure was 45%.

Only 11% of renters said it is more convenient to rent, and 1% said they rent because they are older and downsizing. Almost every other reason given for renting has some economic aspect to it, Gallup said, including the housing market, poor credit, high property taxes or job considerations.

Respondents view the housing market unfavorably, with 72% saying it is a bad time to buy compared with 26% saying it's a good time. Those assessments are slightly less dour than in 2023 and 2024, when record lows of 21% said each year it was a good time to buy. But Gallup said from 1978-2021, Americans were consistently more positive than negative about homebuying.

"The high point in the trend was 81% saying it was a good time to buy in 2003," Gallup said. "While it sank to 52% in 2006, it remained at or above 50% until 2022, when the percentage saying it was a good time to buy fell to 30% amid soaring inflation and record-high median U.S. home values."

Republicans have a slightly more positive outlook on the housing market, with 33% saying it's a good time to buy, compared with just 20% of Democrats and 26% of independents.

In most years since Gallup first asked the question in 2005, majorities have believed local home prices would rise, except from 2008-12 in the years after the housing bubble burst and in 2020 near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than half (57%) of respondents expect housing prices in their local areas to increase over the next year; 28% believe prices will stay the same and 13% predict they will decrease. Last year, 68% expected price increases, just short of the record of 71% measured in 2021.

"These diminished homebuying intentions come as majorities of Americans continue to perceive the market as unfavorable for homebuyers and think that prices will increase over the next year," Gallup said. "Nevertheless, likely because of the rise in home values relative to other financial assets, Americans still rank real estate as being the best long-term investment. The challenge lies in making that investment option more attainable to a wider segment of the U.S. adult population."

• Homeownership Out of Reach as Affordability Gap Widens
• 30-Year Mortgage Dips to 6.64% for 2nd Drop in 2 Weeks