Prices, inflation make buying a home difficult, but owning is still the key to wealth

• Home ownership is the key to building wealth, even though high prices have made buying difficult.
• Younger adults have delayed home purchases compared to previous generations.
• Extending the loan criteria and offering prepayment assistance can help first-time buyers

When Summer Wrenn moved home to North Carolina, she was thinking of buying a house.

“I grew up with my mother and her husband, and they never owned a home, and I’ve always had a dream about it,” said Wrenn, 20, who moved from New Jersey in the fall of 2021.