People once believed if they worked hard, they could become homeowners, but ‘we’re coming to terms with the fact that perhaps most won’t. And that’s the new normal.’
When Katrina Linden moved into an apartment in her early 20s after graduating from college, she assumed renting would be temporary and eventually she’d own a home. But in the decade since, she’s moved from rental to rental and lived with her parents.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 2016, Linden moved to Sacramento, Calif., and started working. Interest rates at the time were relatively low. Buying a house felt like a realistic ambition if she could save enough money for a down payment.
Linden moved about seven times in nine years around the Sacramento area. A few times she moved to live with roommates to bring down the cost of renting. Some moves were driven by other considerations, like an apartment with a rat infestation. Regardless of where Linden lived, she found it challenging to save extra money after paying rent and bills on her modest salary working for a nonprofit.
“Each paycheck, at least half of it went to rent,” Linden, 32, told MarketWatch. After all the other expenses, “you’re left with a couple hundred dollars to play with. Sometimes that would cause me to be overdrawn if I wasn’t expecting a specific bill.”