'They Force People To Be Renters Forever': Would-Be Homeowners Are Sharing The Surprising Reasons Why They've Given Up On Their House Hunt In 2024

For most, buying a home has never been easy, but in 2024, homeownership can feel like an altogether impossible milestone. Between sky-high interest rates, real estate prices far outpacing wage increases, and seriously tight inventory, many would-be homeowners can’t help but feel the odds are stacked against them. So, we asked members of the BuzzFeed Community who’ve put their homeowner aspirations on hold — either temporarily or indefinitely — to share their reasons with us. These are their stories.

1. “We’ve been trying to buy a home since 2020. At this point, we just refuse to pay outrageous prices, with horrible interest, for — and I cannot stress enough — crap. Most of the homes available in our area are new builds. Everything is plywood, staples, glue, and plastic. Everything. The entire house is basically held together by glue in various formats. I’m not paying over $400,000 for, at best, $50,000 worth of product, and most definitely not at 7% interest.”

2. “Because of HOAs. Screw HOAs. Knowing they exist in many neighborhoods and that you can’t just opt out of them plays a huge factor. They have the ability to be absolute assholes for no reason other than tripping on the first amount of power those bored jerks have ever had.”

—Anonymous, 30, California

3. “My bank of 20+ years decided that despite them offering me outrageous credit cards every year no matter how often I told them to stop, I was a ‘bad risk’ for a mortgage due to being ‘older.’ The housing market is so screwed anyway that if I were to find something now that I could afford, it would be a shithole.”

—bloodwynne

4. “It’s the lack of available homes, honestly. I have the down payment. I’m pre-approved for a loan. I feel like it’s a mad dash to beat