The percentage of young people owning their own homes is falling catastrophically

Over the past 20 years, the percentage of young people who own their own homes has declined dramatically. Whereas 20 years ago 70% of young people owned their own homes, today the percentage is just 40%.

The situation of access to housing in Portugal has changed dramatically over the past few decades. In the early 1980s, less than 60 percent of families owned their primary residence and nearly 40 percent lived in rented apartments, the Portuguese Bank said in its October economic bulletin published Wednesday.

The next two decades saw an increase in the number of families owning their own homes, reaching a record high in 2001, when about 76% of families owned their own home.

The Portuguese bank emphasizes that "the decline in the ownership rate after 2001 is concentrated in families where the representative is under 65 years old and, in particular, in those under 35 years old." The data provided by the regulator even shows a sharp decline in the percentage of young homeowners over the last two decades: while in 2001 70% of families owned their own home between 25 and 34 years old (born in the 1967-1976 generation), in 2021 the percentage of homeowners between 25 and 34 years old (born in the 1987-1996 generation) fell to 40%. In addition, "the share of homeowners in' 'under the age of 25 has fallen to less than 35% in generations born after 1986', which compares with values of between 45% and 55% in generations born in the previous three decades.

This dynamic occurred because "young families were particularly affected by the increase in unemployment rates between 2000 and 2014, as a result of weak economic growth in the early 2000s and the sovereign debt crisis", explains the Portuguese Bank, emphasizing that "in families where the representative is under 35 years old, the percentage of owners in 2021 fell to 1981 levels". "Family incomes have increased significantly and this has contributed to lower costs," said Mário Kenteno, head of the Portuguese Bank, at the presentation of the economic newsletter.