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- Navigating the current housing market is proving difficult for first-time homebuyers.
- More Gen Z and millennials are opting out of the rat race and sticking to renting instead.
- British real estate company Zoopla has dubbed the new generation of non-buyers as “guppies”
Starter homes are expensive, so young professionals are opting out of the homeownership game instead of saving to buy a house.
They’re called “guppies,'” and they’ve given up on owning a house. The term, coined by British real estate company Zoopla, is a play on the 1980s phrase “yuppie,” which meant a young, financially successful professional. But these would-be buyers have Given Up on Property — putting the GUP in guppie.
In 2023, the guppie represents 42% of adults under 40 in the UK who don’t own a home and don’t see themselves buying one in the next decade, according to Zoopla. Thirty-eight percent of those adults earn over £60,000 annually.
This mirrors a similar situation in the US, where competition is also heating up between potential first-time homebuyers. Mortgage rates remain close to 7%, and current owners are refusing to sell their houses in favor of their lower, locked-in mortgage rates
Millennials and Gen Zers are being forced to reevaluate as affordable starter homes become a thing of the past. The average age of first-time homebuyers has jumped to 36.
In June the median price for a typical starter home was $243,000, according to Redfin. However, the National Association of Realtors estimated that the price was much higher in July, at $406,700.
Those looking to buy for the first time need to make 13% more than this time last year to afford a starter home in the US.
“Buyers searching for starter homes in today’s market are on a wild goose chase because in many parts of the country, there’s no such thing as a starter home anymore,” Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari wrote in a blog post.
Instead of stressing over down payments and mortgage rates, guppies are comfortable renting for the foreseeable future even though they’re making good money, MarketWatch reported.
A 21-year-old telecommunications worker earning between $80,000 and $100,000 in California described his search for a home around $300,000 in Sacramento as “a semi-depressing struggle,” according to MarketWatch.
Do you consider yourself a guppie? Have you given up on the idea of owning a home one day? We want to hear from you. Email this reporter at jhart@insider.com.
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