Owning a home has long been touted as a way to build wealth, but does it actually pay off? Baby boomers are counting on it. Many have lived in their homes for decades and now expect six-figure profits when they sell, according to a new survey by Clever Offers.
Staying in their homes for so long means boomers can take advantage of home values that have risen dramatically over the last two decades. However, this is precisely why they tend to be blamed for the affordability crisis younger buyers are facing.
“For every home they do not sell, that’s one less opportunity for young buyers, who are already facing a national shortage of over 4 million homes,” said Alexei Morgado, a Florida realtor and CEO and founder of Lexawise. “This also creates a delay in residential mobility and leaves millennials and Gen Z stuck renting at high prices.”
For their part, boomers are having none of it — 76% say they’re tired of being blamed for the housing crisis. Experts say it’s more complicated than holding one generation more responsible than another. Stagnant wages, rising construction costs, zoning restrictions, and the COVID-19 pandemic are among the more likely culprits.
Boomers Expect Their Home Investments to Pay Off Big Time
Per the survey, if they sold their homes today, 68% of boomers would expect to make $100,000 or more in profit. About 11% think they’d clear $500,000 or more. Depending on where they live, they may be right.
“Even a growth rate of 10% would add $100,000 in equity in just two years on the average sale price in our region,” said John Donlon, cofounder and president of GoldCoast Mortgage Services Inc. in Massachusetts. “It’s been significantly higher than that for several years.”
This is a substantial return on their investment, as 68% of older homeowners say they paid less than $100,000 for their first home. Nearly all of those surveyed (98%) paid less than $400,000, well below the median sale price of $512,800 in the second quarter of 2025. About 36% of owners spent less than $50,000 for their houses.
Generally, home values have been rising steadily since the 1960s, when the oldest baby boomers would have bought their first homes. While sale prices dipped slightly in the second quarter of 2020 amid the pandemic, they surged in recovery.
“The pandemic gifted 15 years of equity appreciation in only two years,” Donlon said.
In the fall of 2020, the median home sale price was $371,100; just two years later, it was $525,100 — a 41% increase. Homeowners in high-demand areas could see seven-figure payouts, even if they sell their homes as-is. This backs up the 62% of boomers who say they’ve gained more wealth from their homes than from their careers.
“A majority of folks I’ve worked with or am currently working with bought their homes 20, 30, even 50-plus years ago, paying anywhere from $50,000 to $90,000 to a few hundred thousand,” said Joe Luciano, a Boston-area realtor who helps homeowners downsize. “They’re now looking at selling for over $1 million in most cases.”
As Boomer Wealth Grows, Affordability Grows Out of Reach
Only about 15% of older Americans believe their generation is contributing to the affordable housing crisis by holding onto their homes. In fact, 32% say millennials are to blame.
While pointing fingers is natural, experts call it lazy. In truth, zoning laws and a “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) mindset have restricted new construction, along with decades of underbuilding and rising labor and material costs.
“The scapegoating of boomers is a diversion from the systemic factors that governments have enabled to play out,” said Paul Ferrara, a Senior Wealth Counsellor at Avenue Investment Management in Toronto.
At the heart of the blame game could be how wildly different today’s housing market is from the one boomers bought into. In 1964, when the oldest boomers turned 18, the median home sale price was $18,500. It was $30,200 in 1973 and $66,400 in 1982, when the youngest boomers turned 18.
These prices were about two to three times higher than the median household income, putting homes within reach for most working families. In 2023, home prices were 5.3 times higher than incomes. Put another way, between 1985 and 2023, the cost of houses sold grew 408%, while household incomes increased 241%.
“The figures give a chilling account,” said Nick Heimlich, a California attorney. “A down payment of 20% was common and possible at that time. At this point, buyers are straining to find even 3–5% down as they compete with cash transactions by investors.”
Broad Support for Policies That Make Things Harder for Younger Buyers
Despite not wanting the blame for today’s housing crisis, most boomers surveyed support policies that would make homeownership more difficult for younger generations. For instance, 59% would vote for a political candidate who prioritizes protecting home values — even if it meant fewer people could afford homes.
Similarly, 67% of senior homeowners believe they should be exempt from paying property taxes. This puts a burden on younger families who are already struggling to make payments on student debt and rising rents.
What’s more, 51% of boomer homeowners say the government shouldn’t help young homeowners because it didn’t help them. Twelve percent don’t care if staying in their homes prevents younger people from entering the housing market.
“In practice, this decision not to sell affects affordability more than any other factor contributing to the short-term affordability issue,” Morgado said.
Not all boomer views on homeownership policies are negative, though. Of all those surveyed (homeowners and non-owners), 65% think the government should do more to help first-time buyers.
If Boomers Stay Locked In, What Happens to the Housing Market?
Only 10% of boomers plan to sell their homes in the next five years, while 61% say they’ll remain in their houses for the rest of their lives. That’s bad news for younger buyers waiting for the silver tsunami of real estate.
As older Americans sit on their homes, the median age of first-time homebuyers is creeping up. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), first-time buyers are now 38 years old — an all-time high. In the early 1980s, when the youngest boomers were turning 18, the typical first-time buyer was in their late 20s.
Experts say aging first-time buyers isn’t the only change we’ll see in the housing market. Boomers own 28% of the country’s large homes, keeping family-size housing locked up. Multiple generations living in a home will likely become more common, as will passing properties down to heirs.
“The risk is that ownership turns hereditary, not based on merit, but on inheritance,” Ferrara said.
Of course, just because most older homeowners never plan to sell doesn’t mean they won’t. For many, it will come down to two things: whether they can afford home maintenance and repairs, and how well their health holds up.
Something as common as a roof replacement can eat up a fixed retirement income, as can renovations to ensure accessibility with age. Ultimately, the owner’s mobility tends to be the deciding factor on whether they stay or move.
“Once stairs become an issue, then that’s when they’ll typically call me,” Luciano said.