Over the past few months, I’ve been traveling around the country and sitting down with our broker owners, and I’ve also been spending a lot of time with our agents. One thing has come through clearly in every one of those conversations. The desire to be a homeowner is still very much a key part of the American Dream. What’s changing is how people get there, and that path is becoming more creative and increasingly a multi-generational effort.

Our 2026 American Dream Report, conducted by The Harris Poll, on behalf of Coldwell Banker, puts real numbers behind what I’ve been hearing in the field. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans (89%) call buying a home an admirable achievement. One finding shows just how far ahead families are planning: 82% of parents with kids 5 and under have considered or already started saving for their child’s future down payment.

The Down Payment Fund Is Joining the College Fund

For generations, the savings account parents opened for their kids was earmarked for college. Today, families are treating a future home as part of that same long-range plan, and they’re starting years before their kids could sign a mortgage.

• Among parents of kids 5 and under, 1 in 7 (14%) have already started saving for their child’s down payment, alongside the 1 in 5 (20%) already saving for college.
• Among all parents, a child’s future down payment (56%) sits right alongside college (51%) and a first car (49%) as something they’ve considered saving for.
• Younger parents are leading the way, with 85% of Gen Z and 82% of Millennial parents considering or already saving for a child’s down payment, compared to 70% of Gen X and 51% of Baby Boomer parents.

That generational gap is the part I’d watch most closely. The parents most likely to be saving for a down payment are the ones who may have entered the housing market most recently, so they know firsthand what it takes. As those habits take hold, I expect we’ll see homeownership planned for much the way families have long planned for education. And as generational wealth transfers, even while the older generations are still alive, planning for children or grandchildren’s future homeownership becomes a more focused approach for the aging family member.

Families Are Financing the Dream Together

Our agents are increasingly sitting down with buyers and their parents at the same table, mapping out down payments, timelines and what’s realistic in this market. The data shows how common those conversations are, and that family help often comes with a plan to pay it back.

• 15% of homeowners got family money for their down payment, rising to 26% of Gen Z homeowners.
• Among those who got family money, 7 in 10 (71%) are expected to pay it back.
• Half of Americans (51%) have helped fund a relative’s down payment or considered it.
• 52% of parents with kids 5 and under also are currently, or expect to, financially support an aging relative within five years.
• 7% of Americans have co-bought or are co-buying a home with a friend or other non-romantic partner, up from 5% last year.

Family help is one path among many, but personal savings is the top source Americans have used or expect to use for a down payment (44%). At the top of the market, our Coldwell Banker Global Luxury team found that Gen X and Millennials are set to inherit nearly $2.4 trillion in U.S. real estate wealth over the next decade. This report shows that same instinct to pass homeownership forward reaching well beyond luxury, into households that are often supporting a young child and an aging parent at the same time.

Homeownership Still Means Stability and Success

A lot of traditional milestones are being openly rethought right now. Homeownership is holding its ground, and Americans’ belief in it barely moved from last year.

• 85% of Americans say homeownership is part of the American Dream for most Americans, unchanged from 2025.
• 85% say owning gives a sense of security that renting can’t, holding steady from 86% last year.
• And new for this year, 84% see homeownership as a sign of success, and 64% say buying a home means you’re financially secure.

Americans are clear-eyed about the cost, with 63% saying buying in the next year would leave them house poor.

Gen Z Is All In on Owning

The desire to own runs especially deep among our youngest adults, and many are willing to make real trade-offs to get there.

• 92% of Gen Z non-homeowners want to buy someday.
• 28% of Gen Z would choose their dream home over their dream job, and 25% would choose it over their ideal partner.
• 76% of Gen Z have done or considered moving in with parents or in-laws to save for a home, and 27% are doing it now or have done it.
• 73% of Gen Z say buying a home means you’re financially secure, compared to 59% of Baby Boomers.

The Dream Home Is Refreshingly Practical

If cost was not a factor, 80% of Americans would choose to own their home. When we asked what home features would make them feel they officially achieved the ”American Dream” of owning a home, the list centered on room for the whole family. Enough bedrooms so everyone has their own topped the list (36%), with a large kitchen (34%) and a big backyard (33%) close behind.

What This Means for the Families We Serve

Rates will move, and the headlines will follow. The bigger story in this data is that families are planning for homeownership on a timeline measured in decades, whatever the market does this week.

That has real implications for our industry. When a home purchase involves parents, grandparents or a co-buyer, the agent’s role expands well beyond finding the right property. Our agents are helping families talk through who’s contributing, what’s realistic and how to get there over time, and I think that guidance will matter more with every year. Whether it’s a first-time buyer saving on their own or a whole family pooling resources around the kitchen table, our job is to help people find their path to the keys. If you’re mapping out your own plan, I’d encourage you to connect with a Coldwell Banker agent near you.

You can explore the full 2026 American Dream Report findings here. 

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Coldwell Banker from September 8-10, 2026 among 2,060 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.