Affordability concerns continue to reshape the American housing market, upending expectations about home ownership and forcing buyers to get creative to make ends meet.
According to a new report from Realtor.com, the high cost of living is bringing multiple generations of family members together under the same roof—making homes that can accommodate them a hot commodity. In its report, Realtor.com revealed that multigenerational homes come with a 65% higher median asking price than traditional family homes. But apparently that premium hasn’t deterred motivated buyers.
A multigenerational living situation involves two or more adult generations of family members—often children, their parents, and a grandparent—sharing the same home. The homes themselves are usually larger and often come prepped and ready for a young family to move in with a parent in tow, or the other way around. Multigenerational homes may have in-law suites or ADUs (accessory dwelling units), extra kitchens, and multiple entrances, making it easy for an extended family to live together comfortably.
Realtor.com found that in 2025, the median price of a multigenerational home was $709,000—65% higher than the standard listing median of $429,900. Even when the square footage is comparable, multigenerational homes command $262 per square foot compared to the $215 per square foot for a home without some of the former’s special features.
“Multigenerational living is a meaningful force in the housing market,” said Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com. “A sense of shared purpose and care is at the heart of multigenerational living, a housing arrangement that is quietly shaping American family life.”
A sign of the times
The supply of multigenerational homes isn’t evenly distributed across the U.S. These homes are most popular in the West, particularly in California. The cities with the largest share of multigenerational home listings are all in the Golden State, led by Los Angeles (23.7%), San Diego (22.7%), San Jose (18.0%), San Francisco (17.4%), and Riverside (14.9%).
In metro areas where multigenerational homes are more common, buyers don’t face as daunting a premium when shopping for one. In San Francisco, a home that can comfortably house multiple generations of family members sells for an average of 8.4% more than a single-family home—more, to be sure, but not an astronomical markup.
In other parts of the country, it’s a different story. According to Realtor.com’s report, Cleveland (3.1%), Buffalo (2.5%), and Detroit (2%) have the smallest share of multigenerational home listings, and in those markets these homes come with premium asking prices that reflect their rarity. In Detroit, multigenerational homes are listed for 120% over a standard house’s asking price on average, and attract 82% more listing views than their single-generation counterparts.
“In markets like Detroit and Cleveland, multigenerational homes are a rare find, and when one hits the market, buyers respond,” Jones said. “The strong demand and steep premiums we are seeing in inventory-constrained markets point to a real mismatch between what buyers are looking for and what is actually available.”
Multigenerational living is on the rise in the U.S., but in many other countries it’s already the norm. In Asia, extended families accounted for almost half of all living arrangements in 2020, compared to just 11% in North America and 26% in Europe. In the U.S., two-parent households are more common than multigenerational ones; however, those numbers are undergoing a gradual but noteworthy shift, growing from 3.2 million families to 3.9 million families from 2014 to 2024.
“While the share of multigenerational households held steady over the past decade, the number of families choosing to live this way grew . . . a sign that multigenerational living is becoming an increasingly common choice for American families as high housing and childcare costs create strong reasons for co-living,” Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu said.
