New research shows prices, rates, and down payments are stalling millions of aspiring US buyers
An overwhelming 95% of Americans who plan to buy a home within the next five years say at least one barrier is preventing them from doing so today, according to a new survey by Best Interest Financial and Clever Real Estate, a St. Louis-based real estate company.
The findings reveal just how deeply entrenched affordability pressures have become, and what it will take to move buyers off the sidelines.
High home prices are the top obstacle, cited by 48% of future buyers. Elevated mortgage rates and the inability to save for a down payment each follow at 33%.
The median US home now costs roughly $403,000, yet nearly two-thirds of future buyers, or 63%, say the most they can spend is below that figure.
More than three in four future buyers, or 77%, say it is more difficult to purchase a home today than it was five years ago, and 58% worry they may never be able to buy at all.
The payment anxiety weighing on buyers
Monthly affordability is a central concern. About 57% of future buyers say they could not comfortably manage the typical $2,000 monthly mortgage payment, and 40% are worried they would struggle to maintain that payment after closing.
That anxiety tracks with conditions brokers have navigated in recent months, as housing affordability across the US posted only modest spring gains before renewed rate pressure eroded the progress buyers had been counting on.
"Ongoing economic uncertainty and higher mortgage rates contributed to lower purchase activity," said Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), commenting on new home purchase trends in April 2026.
The report's findings signal that future buyer sentiment mirrors the broader market caution Kan described.
Moreover, homeownership anxiety in the US has reached its highest recorded level, with 25% of homeowners saying that home-related stress carries a high or extremely negative impact on their quality of life, according to Hippo Insurance's 2026 Homeowner Anxiety Report.
Homeownership no longer the top priority
The survey's most striking finding may be how far homeownership has slipped down buyers' priority lists.
About 81% of future buyers say there are other life goals they would rather achieve first — led by paying off debt (36%), traveling (27%), and building a career (26%).
The generational divide is pronounced: 92% of Gen Z and 87% of millennials say other milestones take precedence, compared to 76% of boomers.
Gen Z homeownership rates have remained essentially flat for three consecutive years, according to Redfin, even as the cohort reaches prime homebuying age.
Mark Worthington, a branch manager at Churchill Mortgage in the US, previously told Mortgage Professional America that millennials carry "more ongoing monthly expenses than previous generations," with subscription services and digital memberships eating "into the affordability of housing."
What would move buyers to act? A drop in home prices would prompt 54% to start seriously looking, followed by increased inventory in their price range (43%) and falling mortgage rates (38%).
Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American Financial Corporation, has observed that real progress in US housing affordability is more likely to come from "prices cooling and paychecks rising, rather than because financing suddenly gets cheap."
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