Gen Z homebuyers are buying alone at a pace that stands out in a difficult market. More than half of buyers ages 18 to 26, or 53%, purchased homes solo, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report.
That share is more than double the rate at which millennials were buying homes alone at the same age, and it marks a sharp shift from 2013, when the trade group found singles made up 22% of homebuyers 32 and younger. Jessica Lautz, the association’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said Gen Zers are “absolutely crushing it” when it comes to solo purchases compared with millennials at the same age.
The report is based on a survey of 6,103 primary residence buyers conducted in July 2025. It shows Gen Z making up just 4% of all buyers, but within that small slice, 35% are single women and 18% are single men. The group is also buying in the middle of a housing market that has pushed the age of the first-time buyer to 40 last year, while first-time buyers fell to 21% of all homebuyers from 24% a year earlier.
Those numbers help explain why the path to ownership has become so delayed. A 2025 Coldwell Banker survey found that 84% of Gen Zers say they are putting off major life milestones to afford a home, a sign that buying a house is crowding out other traditional steps. In March, home sales fell 3.6% month over month, underscoring how weak the market remains even as younger buyers keep trying to get in.
The report also shows how Gen Z is piecing together the money to do it. About 14% consulted a community or government down payment assistance program, about 13% received gifts from relatives or friends, and about one-fifth used proceeds from the sale of a primary residence. The friction is obvious: low inventory, higher mortgage rates and stagnant wage growth have made the old timeline for buying, pairing up and settling down much harder to follow. For Gen Z, solo buying is not a trend on the margins. It is one of the few ways into a market that keeps getting harder to enter.