Biggest decline in homeownership witnesses among young adults with middle incomes

The biggest decline in homeownership has been among young adults with middle incomes, new research has shown.

New IFS research shows that in 1995 to 1996, 65% of 25 to 34 year olds with incomes in the middle 20% for their age owned their own home.

Overall today’s young adults are much less likely to own their own home than those in their place one or two decades ago.

IFS senior research economist and research author Andrew Hood said: “Homeownership among young adults has collapsed over the past twenty years, particularly for those on middle incomes – for that group, their chances of owning their own home have fallen from 2 in 3 in the mid-1990s to just 1 in 4 today.

“The reason for this is that house prices have risen around seven times faster in real terms than the incomes of young adults over the last two decades.”

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