Prices, inflation make home buying hard but owning’s still key to

• Home ownership is key to building wealth, though high prices have made buying difficult.
• Younger adults have been delaying home purchases as compared to previous generations.
• Widening loan criteria and offering down payment assistance could help first time home buyers

When Summer Wrenn moved home to North Carolina, she had buying a house on her mind. 

“I grew up with my mom and her husband and they never owned a home and I always had a dream of it,” says Wrenn, 20, who relocated from New Jersey in the fall of 2021.