Majority of Young People Expect to Own a Home in Future, Survey Shows

The overwhelming majority of 15-39 year old Hungarians (86 percent) consider it important to own their own house or apartment as an adult, according to a survey by the Youth Research Institute.

Education is particularly relevant in shaping opinions: for those with higher education, owning their own property is the most important thing, with 93 percent saying so, reports Magyar Nemzet.

The research shows that young people who already own their own property – a third of 15-39 year olds – largely received tertiary education (53 percent), and that women tend to own a larger proportion of flats or houses than men (36 percent of women, 28 percent of men).

The survey also found that relatively more people in smaller settlements own their own home.

A significant majority (71 percent) of young people who do not yet own their own home say they are likely to be living in their own home by 2050. The largest proportion expect to own a home by 2050 in the north of the country.

The survey asked those who do not yet own their own home how long they estimate it will take them to get their own property. Around half (49 percent) of young people thought this was realistic for them within ten years. Within this, there was a high proportion (18 percent) who could not say at the moment. A third of young people (33 percent) indicated a timeframe of between six and ten years before they would own their own home. Those who predicted they would have a home within ten years were typically aged 24 and over and not living in Budapest.

Based on the research by the Youth Research Institute,

the majority of 15-39 year old Hungarians (66 percent) do not own their own property, but would like to own their own property as an adult, and are only moderately frustrated by the current situation and their aspirations for the future.

Only two to three percent of respondents feel that the most pressing problem facing young people in Hungary today is access to housing.

The most significant problem is uncertainty and an unpredictable future, followed by financial difficulties, lack of purpose, and then a lack of friends and community. In the order of importance of generational problems, housing is also preceded by problems such as crime, the prevalence of drugs and alcohol, family problems, or difficulties in finding a job.

The data came from a public opinion survey conducted by the Youth Research Institute in late 2022 – early 2023 among Hungarian citizens aged 15-39 years, using a national, representative sample of 1,000 people, interviewed face-to-face.

Via Magyar Nemzet, Featured image via Pexels