A growing number of U.S. homebuyers are competing for multigenerational properties despite substantially higher prices, reflecting rising demand for shared-family living arrangements as housing and childcare costs remain elevated, according to a new report from Realtor.com.
The report found that multigenerational homes — properties marketed with features such as in-law suites, guest houses, or secondary living spaces — carried a median listing price of $709,000 in 2025, roughly 65% above the $429,900 median for standard home listings.
Even with the higher prices, the listings attracted 13.5% more online views than traditional homes and sold within the same median timeframe of 59 days, suggesting demand has continued to keep pace with pricing.
Hannah Jones described multigenerational living as an increasingly important factor in the housing market.
“What stands out in this data is that buyers are not being deterred by the higher price tags,” Jones said in a statement. “The demand is strong and in a few parts of the country, the supply is struggling to keep up.”
The report estimated that nearly 4 million U.S. households were multigenerational in 2024, with about 3 million owner-occupied homes housing at least two mothers under one roof.
According to Realtor.com, multigenerational households represented 4.5% of owner-occupied homes in 2024, up from 4.3% in 2019.
The typical multigenerational household consists of five people living in a four-bedroom home with median annual household income of $131,000.
Western markets, particularly California, dominated the supply of multigenerational listings.
Los Angeles recorded the nation’s highest share of multigenerational listings at 23.7%, followed by San Diego at 22.7%, San Jose at 18%, San Francisco at 17.4%, and Riverside at 14.9%.
Price premiums were comparatively smaller in California because multigenerational housing is already more common in those markets. Realtor.com found multigenerational homes in Los Angeles carried just a 1.6% premium over traditional listings, while San Francisco recorded an 8.4% premium.
By contrast, markets with limited inventory saw significantly steeper premiums and stronger buyer competition.
Detroit multigenerational listings carried a 120% asking-price premium over standard homes and generated 82% more page views than conventional listings, according to the report. Cleveland recorded a 107% premium and 78% more buyer traffic.
“In markets like Detroit and Cleveland, multigenerational homes are a rare find, and when one hits the market, buyers respond,” Jones stated.
The report also found that multigenerational living arrangements remain most common in urban Western and East Coast markets.
Jiayi Xu linked the growth in multigenerational households to affordability pressures facing American families.
“The number of families choosing to live this way grew from 3.2 million to 3.9 million between 2014 and 2024,” Xu said, citing rising housing and childcare costs as key drivers.
Urban Honolulu recorded the nation’s highest concentration of multigenerational households at 12.1%, followed by Riverside, California, at 10.9%, Stockton, California, at 10.1%, McAllen, Texas, at 10.1%, and Bakersfield, California, at 8.8%.
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