The median age of first-time homebuyers has risen significantly since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 40 years old in 2025.
Many young people attend college hoping, in part, to have a decent career that allows them to be able to provide for themselves and their families. For many, this dream includes someday owning a home.
Students flock to Ferris with high hopes for their futures, hoping to graduate and start making enough money to live comfortably.
Most Ferris students would like to be homeowners someday, but do they still see this as an achievable goal?
Manufacturing engineering technology junior Isaac Anderson is one student who is concerned about the rising age of first-time homebuyers.
“I am very concerned that I won’t be able to own a house,” Anderson said. “It’s always been a dream of mine to build my own house, but how on Earth could I manage that if I can’t even afford to buy a house?’
With the average age of first-time homebuyers going up year after year, many students are starting to feel uncertain about what the future holds for them.
Secondary math education freshman Chelsey Rasmussen explained her frustration as someone trying to earn a degree and someday afford a home.
“If you’re exiting college, if you have your degree, if you’re in a good job, you should be able to provide enough that you’re able to buy a house,” Rassmussen said.
Many students are surprised to learn that the age of first-time homebuyers has risen so much and they believe that it should not take so many years of working before being able to afford a home.
English junior Natalie Timmerman spoke a little bit about her fears and frustration surrounding homebuying.
“I think it’s crazy. You should be able to get out of college and be able to buy a house,” Timmerman said. “But the fact that it’s a record high is just really scary.”
With such a huge problem that is worsening, many students are wondering who or what is to blame.
Anderson expressed what he believes is to blame for the issue, partially blaming the US government for their spending habits.
“Inflation is to blame,” Anderson said. “I can’t say that there’s any one person or group of people to blame other than the government sticking their noses in everything and sinking us deeper into debt.”
Other students, like Rasmussen, have grown frustrated with the high cost of living, but not with any particular person or group.
“I just blame it on the minimum wage and the cost of living versus the average income,” Rasmussen said.
However, some students believe that certain people are at least partially to blame because of their beliefs and actions.
“I think the older generations who don’t understand how the market has evolved and how badly it’s gotten are to blame,” Timmerman said.
To many students, the continuing increase in the age of first-time homebuyers is an important issue that demands immediate attention, and they have offered their opinions on how to move forward and address the issue.
“I think the biggest step forward is reducing inflation,” Anderson said. “Other solutions would include reducing the amount of foreign citizens owning American land and American houses. Freeing up the housing market would allow for increased supply of houses and thus reducing the demand, lowering costs all around.”
With housing costs being such a complex issue, some students don’t even know where to start when it comes to addressing the problem.
“It’s such a big problem to tackle, so I don’t know where we would start,” Timmerman said.
While the age of first-time homebuyers rising continuously is daunting for many Ferris students, they continue to push forward in pursuit of their degrees to hopefully someday own homes of their own.