It has been rough watching our friends become steadily more financially literate and start seriously looking at the housing market for the first time, run the math and realize there is basically no path ever to homeownership for them. 3 of the 4 couples in our friends group own houses, we're all 29~35ish, all dual income, no kids. We're not even in an especially high COL area.

It was only possible for us because my mother died quite young and since she was divorced from my father, her assets were liquidated and a trust was made for my brothers and me. That covered about 40% of the downpayment I needed, the rest was half what we were able to save on my our and half contributions from my father.

2nd couple, don't come from money, got a good deal on a very-old-and-in-rough-shape house in a not-so-desirable area. They've done some work but there's only so much you can do when both people work all the time.

3rd couple easily make the most of all of us combined. Their townhouse is very nice but I'm fairly certain they had some family money to help them too.

4th couple both work decent jobs ($20~25/hr, occasional overtime) but with no family support and rent being as high as it is, there isn't any kind of time horizon where they can put enough money away to make a 20% downpayment on even the cheapest apartment in the city.

There really isn't any other way anymore... I don't think Gen X and boomers fully appreciate just how different this is from when they were in their 20s & 30s. My parents were buying their second house by the time they were my age, in a nice part of a very desirable Southern CA city.