Deltona, Florida, is experiencing a notable challenge in homeownership for its younger residents, with a 75.5-point difference recorded between Gen Z and baby boomer homeownership rates. This finding places Deltona among the metro areas where the generational divide in property ownership is most pronounced, highlighting the obstacles younger adults face in entering the housing market.
The challenge in Deltona extends beyond just the youngest adult generation, as the metro area also ranks among locations with a wide millennial-to-boomer homeownership gap. This suggests that difficulties in purchasing property are affecting both Gen Z and millennials when compared to older generations.
Nationally, buying a first home has become a more difficult financial goal for many young Americans to achieve. An analysis conducted by Clever Real Estate, utilizing two decades of U.S. Census data, revealed a significant decline in homeownership among Americans under 30. This rate fell from 18.5% in 2005 to 11.8% in 2024, representing a 36-point drop over nearly two decades.
The disparity between younger and older buyers is even more evident in the latest figures. Across the United States, Gen Z currently has a homeownership rate of 4.5%. In contrast, baby boomers hold a national homeownership rate of 73.1%, and millennials stand at 44.1%. These national trends underscore the wider context in which Deltona's local figures appear.
Deltona is not alone in facing such a wide gap. It is one of ten metro areas identified where Gen Z trails baby boomers by the largest margins. For comparison, Myrtle Beach has the widest Gen Z-to-boomer homeownership gap in the country, at 80.9 percentage points, with only 6% of Gen Z adults owning homes there, compared to 86.9% for baby boomers. North Port reports a 78.7-point gap between Gen Z and baby boomers and also shows one of the widest differences for millennial and boomer homeownership rates, similar to Deltona.
Other cities demonstrating a wide divide include Madison, with a 75.9-point difference, where only 2.2% of Gen Z adults own homes. Knoxville also shows a 75.6-point gap. Cape Coral has a 75.1-point gap, with baby boomer homeownership at 78.6% and Gen Z’s rate at just 3.6%. Provo, while seeing relatively stronger homeownership among millennials, still has a 75-point gap between Gen Z and baby boomers.
Rising housing costs have also made buying a home more difficult in places like Boise, which has a 74.8-point Gen Z-to-boomer homeownership gap and a typical home value of $485,780. Grand Rapids records a 74.1-percentage-point gap, with Gen Z homeownership at 6.7% and baby boomers at 80.8%. Rounding out the list is Minneapolis, showing a 73.4-point difference, where millennials fare better than Gen Z, but younger adults still encounter a much steeper path to homeownership than older residents. These comparisons place Deltona within a national pattern of increasing difficulty for young adults to achieve homeownership.