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Gen Z Share of Homebuyers Rises to 4% in 2025, Still Far Below Previous Generations at Same Age
Francisco Vazquez, 27, bought a three-bedroom home in Milwaukee for $220,000 after saving $72,000 in just over two years, including a year living rent-free with his parents. Joanna Belechak, 25, purchased a beige brick townhouse in Pittsburgh more than two years ago with parental help after living rent-free in one of their properties.
May 15, 5:00 AM·3m read1 source
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Francisco Vazquez, 27, recently bought a cute yellow three-bedroom home with a basement, garage and yard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for $220,000. He put down a large down payment and obtained a 15-year fixed rate mortgage after saving $72,000 in just over two years.
Vazquez lived rent-free with his parents for one year while saving for a home and spent hours this spring fixing it up before moving in, starting with tearing out the carpet.
"I sanded down all the hardwood floors, stained them again. I was adding polyurethane today. It's looking really nice," he said. Vazquez majored in conservation science on a scholarship and graduated with no student loans.
He worked in Texas helping rescue alligators and place them in a sanctuary, then worked at a zoo, but switched careers after deciding the low pay would not let him support a wife, kids or buy a home. Vazquez took a job managing a fast food restaurant in Wisconsin that offered great pay and benefits and has been promoted twice. He is newly married but bought the house on his own.
"Most of my paycheck, probably like 70%, [went] into just a broad index stock," he said of his aggressive savings plan. His biggest goal at the moment is just to retire early. Joanna Belechak, 25, bought a beige brick townhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, more than two years ago.
She lived rent-free for 18 months in a townhouse owned by her parents after college, and her parents contributed to her down payment. "I'm the only one on the mortgage and I'm taking care of the mortgage, so it's in my hands to figure out the rest of homeowning," she said. The average age of first-time homebuyers has climbed to 40.
