From dreams to high-risk housing navigation: Aspirations and strategies of university-educated young people

In the context of escalating home prices and worsening affordability, accessing homeownership becomes increasingly challenging for young people worldwide. While predominant quantitative studies have examined young people’s housing transitions, less attention has been given to their subjective experience, perceptions and responses. This study focuses on housing aspirations – the interplay between housing preference and structural conditions – of university-educated young people, a group often perceived as having better advantages in securing homeownership. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 50 university-educated young people in Hong Kong, one of the most unaffordable housing markets, this study presents three key findings. First, a strong desire for homeownership persisted among most respondents, despite widespread frustration over their inability to attain it. Second, this pessimism stems from the convergence of a volatile housing market, precarious labour market conditions, and inadequate policy support. Third, respondents developed innovative, yet sometimes risky, strategies to pursue homeownership, including altering their career plans or engaging in high-risk investments. In the context of shrinking and increasingly unpredictable housing opportunities, young people are less inclined to solely rely on traditional pathways (such as stable employment) and instead lean towards riskier strategies to expedite their housing transition. These strategies are accompanied by complex and often conflicting emotions. Our findings carry important implications for housing practitioners and policymakers.