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For Gen Z and younger millennials, buying a home can feel nearly impossible. With mortgage rates hovering at 6.35% and the median U.S. home price over $415,000, according to the National Association of Realtors<\/a>, many are opting to rent longer \u2014 or live with family \u2014 to save money. But one longtime real estate leader says today’s young adults aren’t facing anything new.<\/p>\n Pamela Liebman<\/strong>, CEO of The Corcoran Group<\/strong>, told Fortune<\/a> that the challenges Gen Z faces mirror what baby boomers experienced decades ago. “It is just as tough,” she said. “Back then, it was more difficult in some ways because you had less neighborhoods that people would live.”<\/p>\n Don’t Miss:<\/strong><\/p>\n Liebman, who began her career in real estate in 1984 at age 23, spoke of a time when New York City had far fewer affordable neighborhoods. “The meatpacking district wasn’t this highly desirable district,” she told Fortune. “All these areas in Brooklyn that are number one on people’s list, they weren’t there.”<\/p>\n While today’s buyers contend with high home prices<\/a> and steep interest rates, Liebman said that younger generations have more choices. “Today, you have a lot more options, so many more places to go,” she said. “But it’s always really hard to find those great rentals, or to find those first starter apartments.”<\/p>\n After years of steep borrowing costs, mortgage rates<\/a> are beginning to ease \u2014 a shift Liebman said could bring more movement to the market. “We’ll get a lot more property on the market as these interest rates go down,” she told Fortune. “And the people who are locked into their homes because they won’t trade a 3% mortgage for a 7% mortgage, so that’ll provide more inventory.”<\/p>\n Trending: Arrived Home’s Private Credit Fund\u2019s has historically paid an annualized dividend yield of 8.1%*<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>, which provides access to a pool of short-term loans backed by residential real estate with just a $100 minimum.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n However, she did say that increased inventory won’t necessarily translate to lower prices or make it easier for new homeowners to enter the market. On the other side of new inventory opening up, she said, those who have been waiting for lower mortgage rates are also going to be buying up homes.<\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n For buyers willing to be flexible, Liebman says deals still exist. “So if you’re willing to move around, which people are now, I think that there are definitely opportunities out there,” she said.<\/p>\n Liebman also offered straightforward advice for younger people trying to save for a down payment: cut unnecessary expenses. “Stop buying Starbucks coffee,” she said. “I mean, stop spending money on things that are not necessary. It’s tremendous how fast that little nest egg can add up.”<\/p>\n Other real estate experts agree that discipline and creativity can help young buyers get ahead. Some are seeing trends like dinner clubs, where friends take turns hosting meals at home instead of dining out. Others are living with family to save aggressively, or even swapping homes with older relatives to build equity.<\/p>\n See Also: From Moxy Hotels to $12B in Real Estate \u2014 The Firm Behind NYC’s Trendiest Properties Is Letting Individual Investors In.<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Still, many experts say today’s market presents unique challenges that go beyond lifestyle choices. The number of first-time homebuyers has dropped to just 1.14 million \u2014 less than half the historical average, according to data NAR shared with Fortune<\/a>. The typical first-time buyer now often comes from a dual-income household earning six figures, yet affordability remains a barrier in most cities.<\/p>\n In areas like Los Angeles, the median condo price is about $940,000, bringing monthly payments near $6,600 with current mortgage rates \u2014 roughly $2,200 higher than average rent, Tami Pardee<\/strong>, founder and CEO of West Los Angeles-based Pardee Properties<\/strong>, told Fortune. “For many young buyers, it feels out of reach, and that can be really discouraging,” she said.<\/p>\n While Liebman emphasizes personal discipline and flexibility, younger buyers are confronting a different kind of market. Wages have not kept pace with housing costs, and supply shortages have pushed entry-level homes out of reach for many.<\/p>\n Whether today’s conditions are “just as tough” or meaningfully harder may depend on perspective \u2014 but experts agree that homeownership<\/a> now requires more time, planning, and income than ever before.<\/p>\n Read Next: GM-Backed EnergyX Is Solving the Lithium Supply Crisis \u2014 Invest Before They Scale Global Production<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Image: Shutterstock<\/strong><\/p>\n This article ‘It’s Not That Expensive’: Real Estate CEO Says Gen Z’s Housing Struggles Aren’t Special \u2014 ‘It Is Just As Tough’ As It Was For Boomers<\/a> originally appeared on Benzinga.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[79,18,91999,300,19,5389,17,16667,19615,91997,234,235,1361,91998],"class_list":{"0":"post-158097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-fortune","11":"tag-gen-z","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-interest-rates","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-mortgage-rates","16":"tag-national-association-of-realtors","17":"tag-pamela-liebman","18":"tag-personal-finance","19":"tag-personalfinance","20":"tag-real-estate","21":"tag-the-corcoran-group"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115477815187234094","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}