"Young People Forgo Home Ownership to Invest In the Stock Market" reads the article in Axios, but that point of view is misleading, according to one analyst.
It's not that Millennials and "Gen Z" are "forgoing" home ownership, it's that most of them can't get a foothold on the home ownership ladder.
Bankrate analyst Stephen Kates notes that it's long been a familiar path to start building wealth by buying a home, because no matter whether it crawls up in value or doubles over a long time, it has the advantage over other investments of providing shelter.
But Kates, a millenial, is awed: "Homes are so expensive now!" he says.
"Home prices are up 50-percent from pre-pandemic and mortgage rates are double what they were only a few years ago. You put those two together and you have incredibly costly monthly payments."
So it's not by design that fewer young people are buying starter homes, at least not by young people's designs.
"They're not doing it because they like [stocks] better, they're doing it because thay actually have very little access to getting onto the home ownership ladder," Kates says.
The home markets are ruled by Baby Boomers, it's noted, and they're slow to open their homes to sales markets.
"Millennials make up 29-percent of buyers, Gen Z make up 3-percent, and the plurality of buyers are Baby Boomers."
Still, investing in stocks could be an advantage in the long run.
If played correctly such a plan could far outweigh home ownership when it comes to increasing value.