D.C.'s would-be young homebuyers are living with their parents
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A chunk of young Washingtonians with jobs are living with their parents while earning nowhere near enough to buy a typical home, according to a new report.
Why it matters: It's more evidence of how difficult it is to get your foot in the door as a first-time buyer in our expensive region.
By the numbers: About 4.9% of households in the DMV include what a new Bright MLS report terms a "shadow buyer" — an employed adult between ages 25 and 39 who's living in their parents' home. That's the 10th-highest share among U.S. metros.
- Buyers need an income of $181,000 to buy a median-priced home here — but the median wage of shadow buyers is $41,000, per Bright.
- It would take 4.5 workers making that amount to afford a median-priced home.
What they're saying: "This financial picture is pretty stark," says Bright MLS chief economist Lisa Sturtevant.
- "If you were starting out and trying to make it on your own and live independently, it's a really tricky financial situation."
Zoom in: This group is mostly concentrated in the 'burbs, where larger homes allow multi-generational living, Sturtevant tells Axios.
- Prince George's County has the Mid-Atlantic's highest share of households with a shadow buyer — 8%.
- Prince William County: 7.1%
- Montgomery County: 5.1%
- Fairfax County: 5%
- Loudoun County: 4.3%
- D.C.: 2%
- Arlington: 1.9%
- Alexandria: 1.9%
The big picture: Living with family has become increasingly common among young Americans as housing costs climb.
- Almost half of adults under 30 lived with their parents in 2025 — up 12 percentage points from 2019, a recent Federal Reserve survey found.
- These young people are making money, but still can't afford a house — 7 in 10 adults ages 25–34 who live at home are employed, per a Realtor.com analysis.
- Yes, but: Washington doesn't rank among the top five metro areas for "shadow buyers" — those are all in California, New York or Florida.
Between the lines: Don't expect to see these "shadow buyers" hitting the market in droves anytime soon after saving up, says Sturtevant.
- The income gap suggests homeownership remains out of reach for many.
What we're watching: This showcases the need to build more affordable housing, and especially smaller homes like townhouses, the report concludes.