How Can Young People Afford to Buy Homes? These Millennials Show It’s Possible

If you scroll through money content on TikTok or Instagram, it won’t take long to be convinced that young Americans will never own a home. You’ll quickly run into a finance “expert” claiming that high home prices and interest rates have made saving up for a down payment impossible. Or you might find a comedian complaining that they won’t own a home until they inherit their parents’ house, or a TV news segment warning about the death of homeownership. There’s a problem with that narrative, though: It’s not true.

Can Young People Still Afford to Buy Homes?

Yes, young people are still able to buy homes today—if they choose a location and home price that fit their budget, save consistently, and follow the Baby Steps to eliminate debt and build a fully funded emergency fund before buying.

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In September 2026, the median existing-home sales price was $417,500.¹ As of October 15, 2026, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.71% (7.4% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage).² Many young adults worry they’ll never be able to afford mortgage payments on a home—even after saving up a down payment. When you see $417,500 as the median price, you might feel a little hopeless. But median means that half of existing homes sold below that price. So, if you live in a city with a lower cost of living, you could totally find a starter home or a fixer-upper for around $300,000.

How Many Millennials and Gen Zers Are Buying Homes?

Millennials make up 26% of all home buyers, while Gen Zers represent 4%.³ Buying a home is tougher for many young adults today, but these numbers show that millennials are still active in the market and Gen Z is beginning to enter it.

How Do Interest Rates Affect Your Monthly Mortgage Payment?

Even a small change in your interest rate can affect your monthly mortgage payment. The table below uses our Mortgage Calculator to show what that difference looks like.

^{*Assumes a $300,000 home with 20% down and a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage. Property taxes, home insurance and HOA dues are not included.}

Each half-point reduction in the interest rate lowers the estimated monthly principal and interest payment by more than $60. We recommend a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage because it can save you thousands in interest compared to a 30-year mortgage.

What Is the Minimum Down Payment for a First-Time Buyer?

If you’re a first-time home buyer, put at least 5% down. That’s $15,000 on a $300,000 home. The more you put down, the lower your monthly payment—and the easier it is to stay under 25% of your take-home pay.

But aim for 20% down if you can to avoid PMI, an extra monthly cost that protects the lender instead of you. A 20% down payment would be $60,000 on a $300,000 home.

How Are Millennials Buying Homes?

Millennials are buying homes by spending less than they make and saving the difference. Below are three real stories of millennials who bought homes—despite high prices, high interest rates, and constant headlines telling them it was impossible.

Before you write these stories off as outdated, remember this: Mortgage rates were in the same range as today’s rates during the years these buyers purchased. In 2023 and 2024, the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate reached 7.03% and 6.47%, respectively, compared with 6.71% as of October 15, 2026.⁴

How Do You Save for a House When You Have Debt?

Paying off debt first can free up hundreds of dollars a month in margin that you can redirect into a down payment fund. Michael and Amber Llanes learned that firsthand.

In their late 20s, Michael and Amber were living in a not-so-safe apartment complex in South Florida. They decided they were ready to get the heck out of there and buy a house. But even though they’d been saving since 2018, they weren’t even close to having enough money to make a 5% down payment.

When they looked at their situation and crunched the numbers to see why they were having trouble saving money, it didn’t take them long to find the smoking gun: car payments.

Michael and Amber had nearly $50,000 in combined car debt, which amounted to $800 a month and nearly $10,000 a year in payments. It was killing their progress.

So, Amber started looking for a way out. Before long, she found The Ramsey Show and started hearing one of our biggest messages: Get out of debt—and stay out.

It’s a message Amber connected to immediately.

“I stumbled upon Dave Ramsey, and just felt like it was God-sent,” she said. “He’s teaching us these principles and values, and I just mentioned to my husband, ‘Hey, we need to get these cars off our shoulders.’”

That’s exactly what they did.

They paused their house savings, started attacking their debt, and finished paying off the cars in 2021.

Michael, an access coordinator, and Amber, a health care analyst, then went right back to saving up for a down payment. And with no car payments on the books—or any other debt payments—their pile of cash began growing quickly.

“It really started exploding,” Michael said.

“We pinched our pennies, and started saving, saving, saving,” Amber said. “We were just so ready to get out of our apartment.”

On February 7, 2024, the Llaneses finally accomplished their goal. They closed on a four-bedroom house in a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida, making them homeowners in their early 30s—a target that seemed unattainable back when they were spending $800 a month on their cars.

“That morning was surreal,” Michael said. “Realizing all the sacrifices we had to make to get to that point, and all the time we had to rely on each other to make our dreams come true, made both of us feel extremely blessed.”

“There is no magic formula or trick to purchase a home,” Michael said. “All you need to do is spend less than you make, buy only the necessities to live a comfortable life without all the bells and whistles, and save the extra money you don’t spend.”

How Can Millennials Save a $100K Down Payment?

Owen and Allison Meehl, a millennial couple from Columbus, Ohio, saved a $100,000 down payment by keeping margin in their budget and living on less than they made for five years. They bought their house in August 2023.

Their main ingredient? Focus.

The Meehls wanted to follow our guidance by keeping their monthly house payment below 25% of their take-home pay. So, they set a goal to make a 20% down payment—hoping that would keep their payment low.

But it wasn’t long before the real estate market began exploding and prices got out of hand, something that led many would-be home buyers to throw in the towel.

But the Meehls persevered.

Sure, they were discouraged. But they also refused to give up or adopt a victim mentality, choosing instead to lock in and stick to their goal—even knowing it was going to take much longer than they anticipated.

“It would’ve been awesome to buy the same house for $200,000,” Owen said. “It would be nice to have a 2% interest rate too, but we weren’t there. I don’t have any emotional baggage about what we missed out on, because it just wasn’t the right time.”

After five years, Owen and Allison, who both work as engineers, surpassed their original goal—making a whopping $100,000 down payment on a $330,000 house. Owen was 32, and Allison was 28.

They got there by keeping margin in their budget, living on less than they made, and keeping their spending under control—lifestyle choices that felt less like a major sacrifice or burden and more like simply being intentional.

“I didn’t feel like I was living a lesser life. I was just living a life that didn’t need to have the fanciest new car or the fanciest washer and dryer,” Allison said. “I wasn’t frivolous.”

How Can a Single Millennial Buy a Home?

A single buyer can make homeownership more realistic by adjusting their expectations and choosing a home type and price that fit one income. For 31-year-old Angela Lopez, that meant trading her goal of a single-family house for an older townhome.

In 2023, Lopez grew tired of renting and decided she wanted to buy a house near her apartment in the suburbs of Houston. But could she make it happen with just her income as a content editor? To Lopez, it wasn’t even a question.

“There wasn’t any doubt that I could get to the number I wanted,” Lopez said.

Once she set her savings goal—a 20% down payment on a traditional single-family home—Lopez got to work. She dialed in her budget, set up a separate savings account with an automatic transfer every month, and avoided unnecessary spending along the way.

But as she started saving and crunching the numbers, Lopez ran into a problem: She quickly realized that her initial goal of buying a single-family home was out of reach because the monthly payments would simply be too big.

That didn’t stop her.

Instead of giving up, Lopez did something that became a key to her home-buying journey: She reset her expectations. She shifted to looking at condos and townhomes—both newer builds and fixer-uppers.

And after continuing to save a little while longer, Lopez started working with a RamseyTrusted^® real estate agent and bought her first house in March 2024: an older townhome that needed some repairs.

It’s not her dream home, but she believes making that sacrifice and adjusting her goal was 100% worth it.

“It’s not pretty, but I have a home I can afford in a nice part of town,” Lopez said. “I’m not going to be renting anymore, so I’m actually building equity. I don’t regret it.”

What Do These Millennial Home Buyers Have in Common?

They all stuck to the basics: They spent less than they made and saved the difference. None of them used a fancy financial maneuver or the latest home-buying “hack.”

And although they all have good jobs, they aren’t C-suite executives with insanely high incomes. Michael and Amber Llanes each work desk jobs for a health care business, the Meehls are mechanical engineers, and Lopez edits reports for a construction company.

Boring, right? But here’s the deal: That’s kind of the point.

See, all it takes to buy a home is being patient and working hard—and the people we just looked at prove that.

The Llaneses paid off their debt. The Meehls stayed focused and disciplined. Lopez reset her expectations. And eventually, they all wound up as homeowners before turning 33. Talk about flying in the face of all those real estate hope stealers online.

“You can’t believe everything you hear on the internet,” Michael Llanes said.

The best news about the strategy they all used? You can use it too.

How Can You Afford a Home in a Tough Market?

Getting ready to buy in a tough market starts before you shop: Pay off debt, build an emergency fund, save a down payment, and choose a home that fits your budget. Use our budgeting app EveryDollar to help you find margin. Plug in your income and spending, and you’ll spot hidden money you can redirect to your down payment.

Whether they’re getting out of debt, selling in a tough spot, or moving cross-country for a fresh start, people are still finding ways to make homeownership happen—no matter what the headlines say.

“It sounds cliché, but, honestly, you can do it if you focus on it and put your mind to it,” Lopez said. “It’s probably not going to be exactly what you wanted—I had to make some trade-offs to get into a home. But I still did it. If you decide that that’s what’s important to you, you can get it done.”

Here’s how to tell if you’re ready to buy:

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