For the past few years there has been an increase in home pricing in New Jersey. This rise in cost is an issue for young people looking to buy a new home. First home buyers may not have enough work experience to get a well paid job to afford the cost of living, and they could possibly have school loans to pay off. A mortgage on top of the cost of essentials and possible debt is an overwhelming amount of money for a young person who is just starting out. 

In the past years, Millennials have been buying different homes than young people in their 20s. According to Alexander Proskurov who wrote the article “Generational Shifts: How Millennials and Gen Z are Changing New Jersey’s Housing Market”, about 65% of Gen Z have been buying older houses that need fixing up which could raise the cost from the damage that needs to be fixed. Also, according to the article, Millennials nowadays have stable jobs and a steady income while Gen Z may have minimum wage jobs that don’t pay a lot of money. Older generations usually focus more on homes with a large lot size, more bedrooms, and better areas whereas younger generations buy homes based on the cost, less perfect condition, and functionality.

Kieran Nugent is an English teacher for 9th, 11th, and 12th grade at WMC and currently rents a home in New Jersey.  “I would say I’m just more intentional about what I buy and ensuring that it’s products that could last for longer and like, actual investments rather than just, like, frivolous shopping” Miss Nugent said. 

Also, she explained how she used to live in Oregon 6 or 7 years ago and the cost of living there was a lot lower. Because of the cost of living in New Jersey, she had to live with her parents for a few years after college. “I would like to see housing prices stabilized. I’m not expecting them to go down, but at least to remain stable, and then hopefully the rates for mortgages go down to a more practical number for a long term future” Miss Nugent explained. Miss Nugent is only one example as to how the cost of living is unbearable in New Jersey.

 Ms. Critchley is a special education teacher at WMC. She currently rents a home but is looking for a forever home. “I would say the cost of living has been pretty consistently not very affordable, just because of my age and when I graduated college, it was right when COVID hit,” said Ms. Critchley, “So really, like, ever since I’ve graduated college, the economy’s always sort of been difficult to live in. So I wouldn’t say it’s changed too much for me just because ever since I graduated, it’s been pretty difficult.”

 Also, she explained how difficult it will be this year to buy a holiday present because of the cost of living. She stated that she has a lot of nieces and nephews and she can’t afford a lot of gifts for them this year even though she wants to. “It’s significantly affected my housing choices” Ms. Critchley said. The cost of it is just so unachievable for young people to actually find a comfortable starter home. It’s kind of thrown a wrench into my plans of, like purchasing a home because I didn’t expect at this point in my life to like, still not have a home.” She stated how the escalating cost has been affecting her leisure activities because she is working so much. Ms. Critchley surely is an example as to how the increased expenses are affecting people’s lives.

Unfortunately after all of these issues with rising house prices, the cost doesn’t seem like it will be going down anytime soon. This is because the demand for houses is still high which definitely brings the cost up.