- Home ownership is the foundation to building generational wealth and leaving one’s children better off, writes Hunter Estes.
A few months ago, my wife and I bought our first home here in Mississippi. It was an undeniably stressful process. There was endless paperwork and applications. Countless hours of research, house hunting, and insurance work. But through all the stress, it was a dream come true, and we couldn’t be happier.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for many. In fact, according to new research, many people my age don’t think that they’ll ever be able to afford to buy a home. And the trends are going further in the wrong direction. In just four years, the percentage of Millennials who think they will have to rent forever has doubled.
There’s a common argument from older generations that Millennials and Zoomers have, perhaps, just spent too much money on avocado toast and iced coffee to buy a home. Well, folks, the numbers on those claims just don’t add up.
The fact is that home prices have vastly outpaced wage growth. In fact, since the pandemic alone, home prices have risen “more than twice as fast as average hourly earnings.” These are the consequences, in part, of reckless spending, sky-high inflation, and absurd interest rates.
On top of these other pressures, major corporations are actively buying up available housing and creating a permanent rental class. Thousands of small homes have been transferred into the hands of global corporations with no interest in the community instead of the young burgeoning families that would have otherwise been able to start their financial journeys and contribute to their neighborhoods together.
In fact, institutional investors are now projected to control approximately 40% of single-family rental homes across America by 2030.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was big government incentives following the financial collapse in 2008 that first encouraged massive companies to begin snapping up single-family homes, driving up prices and plucking away chances at the American dream, one house at a time.
On top of corporations buying existing homes, we’re failing to build and deliver new homes as well. This has led to a quickly tightening market on both ends of supply. Altogether, Mississippi is building the 7th fewest new homes among any state in the country. We need a new housing boom, and any policies that stand in the way of that should be quickly slashed.
While a permanent rental class may be financially beneficial for the major corporations that own extensive numbers of single-family housing, it is not in the best interest of our society.
Indeed, home ownership is the foundation to building generational wealth and leaving one’s children better off. So, what are the consequences for a society in which fewer and fewer young people are able to start building this wealth?
No homes mean no kids and no families. If we truly want to be pro-life and pro-family, then it’s important to seek meaningful housing reform in Mississippi. We need more homes, not for corporate owners but for young people trying to access the American Dream.
The family is the quintessential foundation of civic life in America. Strong neighborhoods are built by families with long-term commitments to the area. Any policies that undermine the family, undermine our communities, our churches, and our states as well.
Generational wealth is built off the back of home ownership. Families are raised and memories are made in those homes. The strength of our communities is first found in the family home. Access to them must be protected and promoted in Mississippi and across America.
As I write this, there are still a few boxes stacked up around our own home. The grass needs to be mowed. The floor needs to be vacuumed. And yet, we couldn’t be more thankful for every moment here together. We need policies that facilitate more young people to make this jump into the brick and wood structures that offer shelter and protection to the budding dreams of the next generation.
Hunter Estes
