Millennials, Gen Z Long Islanders priced out as costs rise in their hometowns

Sara Serrano is a third-generation Southold resident: "My grandma built my house in the '70s," said Serrano, 20, who is studying political science and journalism at Stony Brook University.

"My mom grew up there, all of her siblings, and I grew up there. I want my kids to get the same opportunity I had, living in Southold, which is such a beautiful area."

But Serrano says she is unsure of her future here, even though she wants to raise a family on Long Island someday.

"I don't see it as a realistic possibility," she said, "since the housing prices are so high, and rental prices are so high."

'Back in the day, their parents bought these houses for

$150,000 to $250,000.

Now, they're going for

$750,000 to a million, or more.'

— Yesenia Gonzalez, Real Broker real estate agent

Many millennial and Generation Z Long Islanders are not optimistic about becoming homeowners, or even being able to afford rental properties. Millennials are being priced out of the areas where they grew up, often moving to other parts of Long Island instead, real estate agents say, while some head out of state completely. Meanwhile, Generation Z is left wondering if they will even be able to participate in the homebuying process.

"Back in the day, their parents bought these houses for $150,000 to $250,000," said Yesenia Gonzalez, a real estate agent with Real Broker, based in Massapequa. "Now, they're going for $750,000 to a million, or more."

Millennials: Scrolling Zillow like it's Instagram

"Everyone would love to live in the neighborhood they grew up in," said Kaitlynn McCartney, a real estate agent with Compass in Oceanside. "And a lot of these buyers are unfortunately priced out of these neighborhoods."

The majority of McCartney's clients are millennial first-time homebuyers, and part of her job as a real estate agent is to set expectations at the beginning of their home search, she said.

"I think they kind of come into things knowing they can't afford these places," McCartney said. For example, a client raised in western Nassau County might find themselves looking farther east and along the South Shore, she said.

Although it might be disappointing for some, "I think it also gives people a chance to kind of branch off from what they're comfortable with, and explore something new," McCartney said. "There are so many other neighborhoods to explore, and that's a great thing about Long Island: It's such a condensed place, but every neighborhood is different, yet familiar."

The dream of purchasing a home in the town that they grew up in has been evaporating year by year.

— Perry Pappas, Coldwell Banker real estate agent

Perry Pappas, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in Oceanside, said conversations with his mostly millennial client base usually start off with questions about monthly payments.

"I've been doing this for 11 years, and we used to be just talking about a price range," Pappas said. "Now, it really just is about the monthly payment. People are really conscious of what that looks like."

These days, millennials "scroll on Zillow as if it's Instagram," he said, so many people in this age range come into the process already aware of home prices in any given area.

"The dream of purchasing a home in the town that they grew up in has been evaporating year by year," Pappas said. "That's why a lot of the millennials have been going further east and north to stay on Long Island. I don't see them exiting Long Island; just spreading out a little bit more." With his millennial clients, Lindenhurst, West Babylon and Copiague have become popular homebuying areas.

Of course, high interest rates and home prices make it difficult for millennials to buy in their hometowns or even just enter the market — but it's much more than that, Pappas said.

"What's pushing people out of their hometowns is the combined pressure of total cost of living," he said. "Insurance is a major issue now, groceries, utilities alone: People are getting water bills that are just as much as electric bills."

In fact, more potential buyers are now asking for copies of utility bills during their home search, because "they want to know every last dollar it's going to cost them to run that house," Pappas said.

Many millennials are also saddled with debt: "A lot of them have student loans, and a big thing on Long Island is they're competing with cash and investors," Gonzalez said.

According to the National Association of Realtors 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 33% of first-time buyers carried student loan debt this year, with $30,400 as the median amount. Additionally, 26% of buyers paid in all cash for their homes, which was an all-time high for the report.

Leaving vs. staying

"I wish it was more affordable for young people because I think it's such a great place to raise a family," said Kate Hatton, 25, originally from Center Moriches. After moving out of her childhood home and renting in Port Jefferson, she ended up in St. Petersburg, Florida.

But Hatton believes, among the people she knows, that she is in the minority when it comes to this kind of move.

"I don't know anyone that's relocated," said Hatton, who is a real estate agent with Keller Williams Tampa Central. "It's so rare, because everyone just lives at home to save up and eventually buy a house. If you relocate, you're basically putting yourself in a position to not come back."

Hatton said she faced some challenges beyond affordability while touring apartments on Long Island, such as old appliances or strict rules, like no-pets policies. She ended up finding her Port Jefferson apartment through a friend of a friend, who had seen a Craigslist ad.

After living there a while, Hatton realized, "realistically, I needed other options." That's how she decided on Florida, now living in a two-bed, two-bath apartment.

Coming to Florida, your dollar just goes so much further; the taxes are better. I can't imagine going back.

— Kate Hatton, who grew up in Center Moriches and now lives in Florida

"Living in Port Jefferson and going to Stony Brook, I was making $20 an hour, and I still felt like I couldn't afford bills," Hatton said. "Coming to Florida, your dollar just goes so much further; the taxes are better. I can't imagine going back."

But this wasn't always her vision for the future. "Growing up, my plan was always to stay on Long Island," she said. "I loved Long Island. My whole family is still in Center Moriches."

Rosalie Messina, 29, is an attorney living in an apartment in Garden City. She and her fiance, Taylor Spano, are looking to buy a condo or a co-op — they decided to go this route instead of looking into single-family homes.

"We feel that it's still an asset," Messina said. "It would be easier for us to rent to pay the mortgage down to hold it longer term, and because it's cheaper than buying a standalone house, typically. We're not as concerned as having a home that we're stuck with because we're underwater."

Because Messina works in Manhattan and her fiance works in Nassau County, their search has been based mainly in western Nassau and Queens. The couple started looking in October and are hoping to find something before they marry in June.

"The goal for us has been to stay on Long Island, because we both grew up here," Messina said. But the market here has become "hostile" not just for millennials, but all age groups, she added.

"Our parents, who are the boomer generation or a little younger, had the joy of starting out and buying a first home, and saving up and moving onto the next and the next," Messina said. "Our generation is unable to participate, or is really putting themselves toward dire financial straits to participate, so we have unfortunately considered that this might not be somewhere we could always stay."

Gen Z looks ahead

Holly Hessner and Ava Babington are founding members of Left on Long Island, an organization aiming to connect younger and older generations in local politics. A major part of the group's discussions is the local housing crisis.

"I definitely want to eventually be a homeowner," said Hessner, 21, a senior at Boston University majoring in political science. She grew up in Stony Brook, and will be looking for a place to live after graduation.

Some of my friends who went to SUNY schools will be moving to upstate New York, and a lot of it has to do with affordability, unfortunately. But I really want to stay on Long Island.

— Holly Hessner, 21, who grew up in Stony Brook

"I would really love to stay in the Stony Brook area," she said. "It's where my family and friends are for the most part. Some of my friends who went to SUNY schools will be moving to upstate New York, and a lot of it has to do with affordability, unfortunately. But I really want to stay on Long Island."

Hessner is hoping to find an apartment with her boyfriend with rent under $3,000 a month, but that hasn't led to more than one option in her search so far.

Babington, 19, moved to Long Island from Florida in May 2024, citing health care needs and her boyfriend attending Farmingdale State College. She started in an apartment in Huntington, eventually moving to Bay Shore for cheaper rent. The couple downsized from a two-bed to one-bed place.

"The apartment I found is not a whole lot cheaper, but we are saving $500 a month, and that goes a long way," Babington said.

The decision to move from Huntington to Bay Shore was motivated by the couple's long-term goals, Babington said — but she is still unsure where they'll ultimately end up.

"After about a year [in Huntington], we wanted to save money," she said. "We want to buy a house one day and have a down payment, and by renting for several years, we're just blowing money. So we wanted to find somewhere that was cheaper, save money and maybe look at houses. But with the housing market on Long Island, we've talked about not staying here. I was looking at D.C."

Younger generations need more affordable housing options in order to stay here long-term, but it's vital for Long Island's ecosystem that these units are built sustainably, said Hessner.

"We want affordable housing, and we want to be able to see our friends regularly and not have to travel really far, we want to be able to stay where we're comfortable with our families, but this is something that needs to be done carefully," Hessner said. "We live on an island; we get our water from under the ground as opposed to an external source."

I want to make the town better, and I hope the housing crisis currently doesn't prevent me from living there.

— Sara Serrano, 20, of Southold

Even though Serrano is only 20, she's seen a noticeable shift in her hometown during her lifetime, which can be connected back to people moving to the area from New York City during the pandemic, she said.

"When I was growing up, my neighborhood was filled with older residents, people who were local to Southold for generations, and currently I would say that probably 50% of them have left and most of my neighborhood is either Airbnbs that are vacant during the winter, or they're second homeowners that are also vacant during the winter."

Serrano doesn't know any college-age Long Islanders who did not move back in with their families after graduation. She also doesn't know what her job opportunities would be in Southold by the time she graduates.

"I want to make the town better, and I hope the housing crisis currently doesn't prevent me from living there," she said.

Hoping to come back home

For millennials, keeping an open mind and trying not to get discouraged during the home search is necessary, McCartney said.

"Your first home does not have to be your forever home," she said. "A lot of millennials are programmed to think that way, because that's how things turned out for our parents, but it's not really structured that way anymore."

In addition to expanding their home searches, there is another option that can "keep millennials on Long Island," Pappas said.

"A lot of buyers now are looking for a renovated home with a basement with an outside entrance, because they're typically renting out those spaces now," he said. "Over the past year, that's become one of the most popular things I've seen: ADUs [accessory dwelling units] and buyers looking for a rentable space in their house."

Pappas has also seen banks qualifying properties with basement apartments, garage conversions or a backyard cottage "as if they were a multifamily house, and they're using that projected rental income to help buyers qualify," he added.

Gonzalez has also noticed this trend recently. "I think that's the best way to invest, if you're a first-time homebuyer," she said. "Here, you're building equity, and then when you're ready to purchase your next home, you can rent out both units and pay a portion of your new mortgage."

As for Messina, the home search on Long Island continues — but she's not concerned about how it might turn out.

"We're going to find our home, and we'll end up where we're supposed to end up," she said. 

Messina hopes that her generation doesn't lose hope for living on Long Island.

"One day we're all going to look back," she said, "and when our kids are complaining about trying to buy a home, we'll tell them, 'You should have seen what it was like when we did it, and we made it.' "