Gen-Z are no stranger to the financial constraints of the rental market. With consistently increasing house prices and a rising cost of living, obtaining a house has proven more difficult than ever before.
Across both advancing and developing economies, research suggests that younger generations are reaching adult milestones at rates lower than previous generations. Anxiety over rising housing costs and financial insecurity are not limited to any specific geographic location. Hiring is down; unemployment has risen; a bleak image is being painted across the multiple barriers to accessing financial and cultural goals such as home ownership.
With a lack of affordable housing leading to a circumvention of expectation in home ownership, Gen-Z has seen an increasing rise in “co-buying,” with friends coming together to pool resources to co-purchase together.
Although co-buying dropped to 5% in 2025 from 14% of American homebuyers in 2023, new data from Rocket Mortgage found that around 60 percent of renters were considering co-buying in hopes of being able to afford a home.
A six-figure barrier
I spoke to recent homebuyer Elle Thompson, who recently co-purchased a home in Washington, DC with her close friend, Maddy Brosius. Thompson named multiple reasons for co-investing in a home that led her to this decision.
Thompson discussed her near-universal dream of buying a home, which had been previously impeded by financial constraints. She currently works at a nonprofit, and resides in the DC area, where studies have found that home ownership requires six-figure household incomes to afford a median-sized home. This is approximately double what Thompson currently earns.
“As a result, I just wouldn’t be able to afford a house on my own,” said Thompson.
Trust and transparency plus 10% of the title
Thompson stressed that co-buying was not a decision that was made lightly, or without proper consideration. “My co-buyer is one of my best friends in the world, and I wanted to make sure that I purchased with someone I deeply trusted.”
Because Thompson placed the entire deposit, they have an agreement in place where Brosius owns only 10% of the title. If she ever needs to get out of the situation financially, there are mechanisms in place through which she can do so.
Redefining life partnerships
There is a level of deep trust between the two that allows for them to have made such an enormous financial decision together. “It’s important to me that my life is not defined by my romantic relationships alone,” said Thompson. “For my last few years of college, I had a close friend [Brosius] who I really wanted to build a life with […] it really just made sense to become co-buyers.”
This practice of communal living is part of a growing trend of unconventional ownership that Gen-Z is uncovering, in their unique journeys to financial independence through property investment.
This trend of co-buying is also transforming the definition of what it means to consider friendship as life partnership, through trust, honesty, and uniquely close bonds. “I probably would not have considered this [co-buying] with anyone besides a couple of close friends,” stressed Thompson.
A new way to build equity
Although there are many factors of consideration that went into the decision, Thompson would wholeheartedly suggest co-buying to those interested in property ownership in the current market.
“Co-buying is currently the only way to afford a really nice house that you can grow with,” said Thompson. “We managed to find a three-bedroom home and thus will probably be able to live here for a very long-time growing equity.”
As economic disparity increases and independent home ownership remains prohibitively expensive, Thompson’s experience speaks to many: that there are more and more upsides to buying a house with friends.
“I love being a co-owner, and I think it’s a wonderful way of having my relationship.”
