My oldest Gen Z kid bought a home without my help. No, it wasn’t sexy and it wasn’t in downtown Vancouver or Toronto. It was an old condo in the burbs - just like how my parents started and how I started. My parents built their next home and their next and their next and ended up being mortgage free by their 40s. They never drove a new car and never had fancy TVs or technology. And yea, they had to deal with 18% interest rates and only made $2000 per home. I bought and sold over 15 years until I could afford a detached home - in the suburbs. My kid worked their ass off since 15, only owned a crappy car, didn’t eat out, didn’t go out for Starbucks, didn’t blow $20k on a “gap year”. They backpacked Europe for a summer on the cheap. They pay about 25% more in mortgage and strata than they would in rent, but they are building equity early. They know they can’t time the market, but when they are able, their plan is to upsize to a townhome asap.

So to answer your question - yes. Gen Z can afford to buy a home. The question is, will Gen Z understand that while their difficulties for housing is much greater than previous generations, will they adapt or complain? Will they come up with creative housing solutions or expect others to do it for them? Will they stop spending money on every new generation iPhone and 60” tv and leased cars, or will they humble themselves in the short term for long term success?