Millennials, Here’s What a Home Cost in the Year You Were Born

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Homeownership in the U.S. spiked in the wake of World War II, thanks largely to the GI Bill, which provided low-interest loans for veterans and the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) aggressive role in mortgage financing. As homeownership became more widely attainable, it became enmeshed with the American Dream. If you owned your own home, that signified that you were thriving. 

Homeownership still represents financial achievement, but it’s become harder to pull off. Over the last several decades, housing prices have risen faster than wages, making it challenging for middle-class folks to afford a home. Let’s explore just how much home prices rose between 1980 and 1994 — the years millennials were born — along with what was happening in politics and culture back then.  

Also see millennials’ personal finance tips for Generation Z.

​​1980 

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $76,400
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $297,905

The year 1980 kicked off what’s come to be known as “the decade of decadence,” or, even less favorably, “the decade of greed.” But it wasn’t all parties and spending; it was also a year of landmark political events, including then-President Jimmy Carter passing legislation to bail out the Chrysler Corporation with a $1.5 billion loan. Additionally, it was in 1980 that the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Tragically, it was also the year that John Lennon was shot and killed at the age of 40. 

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1981

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $83,000
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $292,922

This was another momentous year for politics. In 1981, we saw Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice sworn in. Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president of the United States — an event that ended the Iran hostage crisis. In March, there was an attempted assassination of Reagan; he and a few other people were wounded. Additionally, the first cases of AIDS in the U.S. were identified, although at the time, the disease did not yet have a name. 

1982

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $83,900
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $277,298

In 1982, the CDC officially named AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). Michal Jackson released his legendary album “Thriller,” which became the bestselling album ever. Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster “E.T.” hit theaters. Technology was booming, to the point that Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” was not a man at all, but “the computer.”

1983

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $89,800  
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $286,490

One of the most relevant years in modern technology was 1983, when the migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP was completed, signalling what is widely considered to be the beginning of the internet as we know it today. The Disney Channel launched this year, as did “Reading Rainbow,” the classic PBS program.  

1984

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $97,600 
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $297,111

In 1984, Reagan was re-elected as president. The Apple Macintosh PC hit shelves, introduced to the masses via a Super Bowl ad. The computer was priced at $2,500, or what would be $7,595.38 in 2024.  Lionel Richie’s haunting balled “Hello” topped charts and the pioneering singer Marvin Gaye died at the hands of his own father.

1985

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $100,800 
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $295,893  

This year kicked off with President Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush being sworn in for a second term. Shortly after, the legendary charity single “We Are the World” was recorded. “Back To The Future” hit theaters and held strong as the highest-grossing film of the year. True crime history was made when, in late summer, Richard Ramirez, the serial killer known as the Night Stalker, was finally caught. 

1986

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $111,900  
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $321,231  

This was a big year in the astronaut community; The Voyager 2 space probe made its first encounter with Uranus! But there was plenty of stuff happening Earth-side, too. Pixar was founded by John Lasseter and Steve Jobs and the United States Senate approved a treaty outlawing genocide. Tragically, the Chernobyl disaster occurred in April, killing at least 4,056 people and forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to resettle away from areas in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. The horrific effects of the Chernobyl disaster were not limited to 1986, but persisted for decades after, causing devastating diseases and defects. 

1987

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $127,200  
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $354,403 

You may be taken aback to learn that Starbucks was already a powerful brand in 1987, and opened its first location outside the U.S. that year, in Vancouver. The U.S. economy had a legendary shakeup on what came to be known as “Black Monday” — the day when stock market levels plummeted on Wall Street and around the world. This happened just a few months after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 2,500 mark for the first time, at 2,510.04.

1988 

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $138,300  
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $370,777

This was a big year for the still-nascent internet. The first well-known computer virus called the 1988 internet worm wiggled onto the scene; the first permanent intercontinental internet link was established between the U.S. and Europe, as was the first internet-based chat protocol, Internet Relay Chat. Also in 1988, the world got a sneak peek into what would become a topic that cannot be avoided — global warming. NASA scientist and environmentalist James Hansen testified to the U.S. Senate that global warming caused by humans had begun. 

1989

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $148,800 
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $380,008 

Arguably the most “famous” thing that happened in 1989 was the fall of the Berlin Wall. But, like every other year, there was a plethora of landmark events. In July, a federal grand jury indicted Cornell University student Robert Tappan Morris for enacting a computer virus, making him the first to be prosecuted under the United States’ 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. On a lighter note, the hit TV show “Seinfeld” debuted. 

1990

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $149,800  
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $363,538

In 1990, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union voted to end its monopoly of power, opening the gates for multiparty elections. In May, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. Arguably less importantly, “Driving Miss Daisy” won best picture at the 62nd Academy Awards.

1991

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $147,200  
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $340,558 

This year kicked off with fury. On Jan. 16, Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm launched with air strikes against Iraq. After 61 years in business, Eastern Air Lines shuttered due to financial problems. Later that year, Pan American World Airways shut down. In June came the end of Apartheid in South Africa. 

1992

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $144,100 
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $323,094 

This year was the beginning of the Clinton years, kicking off with Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton accepting the Democratic party’s presidential nomination, saying he was doing so on behalf of the “forgotten middle class.” Pop culture history was made when Sinéad O’Connor tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live,” spurring outrage that her career never recovered from. Clinton won his way into the Oval Office, defeating Republican President George H. W. Bush and Independent candidate Ross Perot.

1993

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $147,700
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $321,250 

In January 1993, Clinton was sworn into office as the 42nd president of the United States. That spring, the Great Blizzard of 1993 battered the Eastern U.S., resulting in record snowfall and other severe weather events that caused multiple deaths. KTTV launched “Good Day LA,” which has endured as a popular morning news show. 

1994

• Average home sale price (in year sold): $154,500
• Average home sale price (in 2024): $327,821

On New Year’s Day, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was established. In March, Apple released the Power Macintosh, the first Macintosh computers with PowerPC microprocessors. “Schindler’s List” swept the Oscars and Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first Black president.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates found the national average home sale price from 1963 to 2023 in years sold dollars as well as current dollars. Using the U.S. Census’s New Residential Construction Average Home Sale Price, GOBankingRates found the historical average home sales price starting in 1963. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator, the historical home price can be calculated in 2024 dollars. All data was collected on and is up to date as of May 24, 2024.

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