Millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers all ranked the overall economy as the top issue in their presidential pick. Preserving democracy was more likely than housing affordability to weigh on Gen Xers’ and boomers’ minds.
More than nine in 10 (91%) adult Gen Zers say housing affordability is important when considering who they will vote for in the upcoming presidential election, making it the top issue for that generation. Gen Zers were more likely to rate housing affordability as an important factor in their vote than any other issue they were asked about, including the economy, abortion and gun rights, preserving democracy and foreign wars.
This is according to a Redfin-commissioned survey of roughly 3,000 U.S. homeowners and renters conducted by Qualtrics in February 2024. Please see a more detailed methodology at the end of this report.
Millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers were all more likely to say the strength of the overall economy was an important factor in their presidential pick than any other issue. Gen Xers and baby boomers also ranked preserving democracy above housing affordability. Still, at least 80% of every generation said housing affordability is an important factor.
All generations were more likely to rate housing affordability as an important factor in their presidential vote than abortion rights or student debt.
Housing affordability is important to American voters because homebuying–and renting, for that matter–have become increasingly costly over the last several years. Home prices have soared more than 40% since before the pandemic homebuying frenzy, and elevated mortgage rates are exacerbating high prices: 2023 was the least affordable year on record.
The issue is particularly important to young Americans because they are aging into homeownership; only 26% of adult Gen Zers already own a home. It’s more difficult for first-time buyers to break into today’s expensive market because they don’t have equity from a previous home sale to put toward their down payment and mortgage payments. Renting a home has also become much more expensive over the last several years, largely because demand for rentals surged during the pandemic: The median U.S. asking rent has increased more than 20% since 2019.
“Housing affordability is a cornerstone of this year’s presidential election because even though the economy is fairly strong, unemployment is low and wages are rising, buying a home feels impossible for many Americans,” said Redfin Senior Economist Elijah de la Campa. “This is particularly the case for young people, who have seen the cost of starter homes increase twice as fast as incomes. Young people care about other political issues, like immigration and abortion rights, but they’re more likely to cite housing affordability as a factor in their vote because it directly impacts the roof over their head, their lifestyle and their ability to build wealth.”
President Biden has released a plan to lower housing costs. Donald Trump has said he has a strategy to combat the expensive housing market.
This is according to a Redfin-commissioned survey of roughly 3,000 U.S. homeowners and renters conducted by Qualtrics in February 2024. There were 180 responses from Gen Zers, 844 from millennials, 843 from Gen Xers and 1,128 from baby boomers and older generations.
The relevant prompt was: “Please indicate how important each of the following issues are when considering how you will vote in the next presidential election.” Respondents could choose “very important,” “somewhat important,” “not very important” or “not important at all,” and they could select all issues that apply. For this report, we group together the “very important and “somewhat important” responses, and refer to those as “important.”
Adult Gen Zers are 18-27 years old, millennials are 28-43, Gen Xers are 44-59 and baby boomers are 60-78.
