Charlotte 20-somethings: "God, I'm never going to own a house"
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Dilworth townhomes are priced in the $700s. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
Charlotte's 20- and 30-somethings are increasingly giving up on the dream of homeownership, at least in the city where they hoped to buy.
Why it matters: Buying a first home used to be the starter pack for adult life, to gain a financial footing and grow a family. But many young people today are resigned to perpetual renting or putting down roots elsewhere.
- The crisis is national but especially prominent in Charlotte, where the median home price now exceeds $440,000.
What they're saying: Shannon Martinez, 24, says he was recently looking in the $300,000-$350,000 range. Everything was either a fixer-upper or out of budget.
- One place he seriously considered would've required $50,000 down and a $3,000 monthly payment.
- "Well, shit," he says. "It would have cost me $86,000 to own the house for the first year."
- He renewed his apartment lease instead.
By the numbers: In America's fastest-growing city, the annual household income needed to buy a home has skyrocketed from $79,014 in 2020 to $146,280 in 2025, per the State of Housing in Charlotte 2025 Report.
- "Most people my age are like, 'Dang, what was I doing in sixth grade?' I should have been buying a house instead of worrying about my homework," Martinez says.
"The places I looked at for like $225 [in 2021] are now like $360," says Zac Bruso, a 30-year-old who's pre-approved but still renting in the Montford area.
- Bruso says he's now taking a "wait-and-see" approach for something in his central location and price range.
- "The inventory is not there for what young people actually want," he says.
The big picture: Millennials and Gen Zers typically have to lower their expectations to buy. They're used to walkable, urban lifestyles in neighborhoods like South End, where rent is around $2,000.
- But their homebuying budget aligns more with Salisbury or Fort Mill, South Carolina.
- "I would say six out of 10 times, we are having that conversation of, 'Hey, maybe this isn't the area,'" says Daniel Coleman, a lender at Movement Mortgage.
Townhomes used to be an affordable fallback to a single-family home. Now they can easily go for half a million or more. Young buyers don't want to spend that much on what feels like a starter home.
- "Our safety net for buyers is gone," says Charlotte real estate agent Andy Griesinger.
Case in point: Lydia Sellers, 27, and her husband Clay, 28, have "desperately" searched for a year with a budget under $350,000.
- "Anything that's affordable is a townhome," Sellers says. "In an ideal world, we'll be having kids in a couple of years, and we don't want to buy a house that we'll almost immediately grow out of."
- The couple is now considering as far away as Stallings or Lancaster, South Carolina — "but really don't want to move further than that because we have a great support system in town."
State of play: At this point, many young people are holding out hope for a market shift.
- "Unfortunately, I don't really have good news for them," says Yongqiang Chu, director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate.
- Interest rates today hover around 6.5%-7%, with no sign of relief. In 2020, rates were below 4%.
- Monthly payments are roughly double what they'd be for a house purchased during the pandemic, Chu says. Meanwhile, apartment rents are holding steady in the $1,500s.
Yes, but: Ali Dubois-Youngling of Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group says waiting will only make it harder. If interest rates drop, "the market's just going to flood with buyers."
- Townhomes and condos lingering on the market may be the most realistic entry point.
- "It's very common in Charlotte to see buyers go through two, three, four houses before they get to their quote 'forever home,'" Dubois says.
The bottom line: The dream hasn't completely disappeared. But it is moving farther and farther away.