From right and left, we keep hearing how hard it is to afford a home.

"A lot of young people are saying, 'Housing is way too expensive,'" Vice President JD Vance has said. He blamed illegal immigration and a failure to build "enough new houses to begin with, even for the population that we had."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, has accused the Trump administration of cozying up to big businesses that are driving prices – including rents and home prices – to record highs. "It's not easy to just find a cheaper apartment when every apartment or every home in your area is the same unaffordable price," she said.

They have a point. Only 29% of 25- to 34-year-olds owned a home in 2024, down from 40% in 2005. Housing has gotten less affordable, and young men and women have grown far more pessimistic about ever owning a home, even though they still want one.

Better housing policy, whether from the left or the right, is a big part of the solution. But young adults don't........

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