Renter Families Now Average 16 Years to Save to Buy a Home. In 2019, It Was 8 Years

"Economists argue that, overall, life is more affordable now," said The New York Times last month. "Our wages are far higher and we pay far less for many basic goods than we did 40 years ago. But sober economic assessments don’t necessarily affect how people feel when they’re staring at the skyrocketing costs of the big items needed to achieve a middle-class life, like housing or education."

It's not that Boomers and Gen-Xers are hallucinating when they recall struggling to save up a down payment and closing costs. But their experience was a middle-distance race compared to the marathon aspiring homeowners currently face.

And it's getting worse frighteningly quickly. "Since 2019, the time to save those funds for a renter family at the median income has doubled, from 8 to 16 years," says a new study by the Julian Bond Institute (JBI). "For Black aspiring homeowners, the time to save has increased from 11 to 21 years. The Black-White disparity between 2019 and 2026 has doubled."

According to the JBI study, the median renter household earns just under $58,000 annually and would need to save roughly $24,400 for a down payment and closing costs on a starter home.

Scary Numbers

That "since 2019" caught us off guard. We've been closely monitoring housing affordability for a long time. But even we were astonished that the number of years it takes a renter family at the median income to save for a down payment has doubled in seven short years.

And things aren't much better for middle-income earners ($50,000–$120,000). They now face 12 years of intense saving, again double the time in 2019, says the study.

Meanwhile, essential front-line workers are between the two. Police officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, nurses, and teachers face savings periods of 10 to 13 years. Guess what. That's twice as long as seven years ago.

There are wide variations for those wanting to buy in the 10 largest metros. In Houston, the most affordable, it could take an aspiring homeowner 11 years to save enough to buy a home. In Los Angeles, one's looking at 24 years.

However, the problem isn't restricted to big metro areas. JBI's study finds that things are even worse in the fastest-growing rural areas than in big metros.

What's the Problem?

The underlying issue is that home prices have risen much more quickly than incomes. On Jan. 1, 2019, the median nationwide sale price of a new home was $313,000, according to TradingView. It had climbed to $393,300 on July 1, 2026 — a 26% rise since the start of 2019.

And "real" (after inflation) incomes have seen nothing like that jump. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis uses Census Bureau data to calculate median household incomes in the U.S., and it reports those incomes averaged $85,320 in 2019. In 2025 (the last available figure), they averaged $87,460. That's a 2.5% increase in real incomes.

This isn't new. "Between September 2010 and September 2023, home prices rose 114 percent, while the consumer price index rose about 41 percent and wages rose 50 percent," said the Urban Institute in 2023. "In 2010, $10,400 would have covered a 5 percent down payment on the median home purchase, whereas now, a borrower would need $22,240 for the same 5 percent down payment."

But that problem must now be viewed within the context of renewed inflation: rising prices, almost across the board. According to the latest personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation gauge, year-over-year consumer prices rose 3.6% in September. During that month on its own, the price index rose 0.5% while current-dollar personal incomes rose 0.2%.

It's one thing to save for a down payment and closing costs when one's income is outstripping price increases. It's quite another when every trip to pump gas, buy groceries, or pay for child care feels like a trauma. And it's even worse if one has student debt hanging over one's head.

What Can Be Done?

"To address the barriers to housing affordability, two types of concurrent reforms are needed," says JBI's study.

The first is to increase the supply of homes, particularly affordable starter homes for first-time buyers. That means relaxing local zoning restrictions to allow smaller homes on smaller lots, as well as encouraging construction of townhomes, condos, duplexes, and triplexes.

The study also recommends looking at alternatives to traditional homebuilding methods, including manufactured, modular, and panelized housing, which could help reduce construction costs.

And it calls for policies that encourage homeowners to repair and renovate existing properties, preventing more homes from falling out of the nation's housing stock.

The study's second proposed reform is an overhaul of existing down payment assistance (DPA) programs. JBI says DPAs are extremely helpful but are woefully underfunded and often run out of money.

Ensuring adequate funding would certainly be a start. But we would suggest that raising awareness would also help. Too many aspiring homeowners have no idea these programs exist.

We're trying to do our part by publishing DPA details for every state, telling readers what's available and who qualifies. Check out the list of the ones we've published so far.