Young Europeans’ Homeownership Falls 8 Points by Age 32 as Rates and Prices Outrun Incomes
Updated
Updated · Euronews · Sep 23
Young Europeans’ Homeownership Falls 8 Points by Age 32 as Rates and Prices Outrun Incomes
3 articles · Updated · Euronews · Sep 23
Summary
OECD data across 20 EU countries show 52% of people born in 1985 owned a home by age 32, down from 60% for the 1975 cohort; by age 29, ownership fell to 41% for the 1990 cohort.
Rising interest rates since 2021, house prices growing faster than incomes and slow wage growth have made mortgages and down payments harder to afford, while stricter lending and later labour-market entry add pressure.
Around two-thirds of European countries recorded lower ownership among people in their 30s versus the mid-1990s, with Ireland dropping to 53% from 81%, Greece to 58% from 78%, the UK to 56% from 74% and Spain to 60% from 77%.
Slovakia, Czechia and Poland bucked the trend with gains tied largely to post-socialist housing privatisation, while Dutch researchers disputed OECD figures even as France was the only big-five economy to post a rise.