IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: LIVE IN CHICAGO! BACKSTAGE GUIDE 15 their parents, their grandparents, and their friends lose their homes, have them given back to the bank," Goodnow said. "And I think that caused millennials to have some skepticism of the benefits of homeownership in the way that previous generations just did not." Of course, some young people didn't just watch their friends and families get overtaken by the housing crisis. Some experienced it firsthand. "I bought a condo pretty close after college in 2008, which in hindsight, I realize, what a bad time," said sales engineer Julia Napolitano, 32, of Milwaukee. "I went into it, really, with this idea of, 'I want to establish myself. I want to build my career, I want to build a home,'" Napolitano said. "And in my mind, growing up in a single-family home my entire life with my parents, that was their marker. That was what they really instilled in me." But then, "The market changed and with it so did my opinion of homeownership," Napolitano said. After buying her condo for $159,000 and living in it for a few years, Napolitano moved into a rental unit and leased her home to renters. Finally, in 2016, she sold her condo for $104,000. "I needed to get away from it," she said, noting that even when the unit was rented, she was either barely breaking even or taking a financial loss every month. Plus, she said, life as a landlord just didn't suit her. This experience isn’t unique to just a few young people here and there, according to Richard Green, director and chair of University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate. "If you bought a house in 2003, 2004, 2005, OK, you probably at least have equity in your house now," Green said. "But you haven't substantially increased your equity. In generations past ... the equity was just there to buy the second house, and people don't have that now. And I think that's probably the most profound lingering impact of the crisis." Dark cloud of debt Another issue that can't be overlooked: "Millennials are dealing with crushing student debt," attorney and author Goodnow said. Indeed, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that by the end of 2016, the national student debt had reached $1.31 trillion, and that 2015 graduates with loans left school with an average of about $34,000 in student debt. And even if young people do want to buy a home, said White, the Rutgers economics professor, "getting a mortgage is no longer as easy as it used to be. The terms are much more difficult. The banks are compensating for mistakes they made." Add to this the tough market, with soaring home prices and housing inventory 9% lower than it was a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. Throw in the hassles of maintaining a property you own. Sprinkle in a dash of the freedom that comes with renting. And when it's all mixed together, you could be forgiven for wondering whether purchasing a home is even worth it — and whether that cornerstone of the American Dream is losing its luster. Well ... not so fast. Pathway to wealth "There aren't a lot of opportunities to build wealth outside of homeownership," said McCabe, "and we rely on our wealth, this wealth that we've built, for retirement, for weathering health emergencies, maybe sending our kids to college. And homeownership still remains the best way to build wealth." For the most part, according to McCabe, people recognize this, and many—even millennials—are not entirely put off by homeownership. Yes, some young people shun the suburbs with their dreaded white picket fences, but McCabe sees this as more of a delay than anything else. "For a lot of millennials, they'll spend some time in the city in their 20s before they move out to the suburbs," he said. "Maybe the draw of buying a home kicks in a little bit later. They might not be thinking about building wealth and starting families as young." So is homeownership still a cornerstone of the American Dream? Depends on whom you ask. Ask economics professor White, and he'll say: "The American Dream is not about homeownership, but it's about upward mobility. Some people may never buy a house, and yet their status and income will rise. So it's really a matter of choice. It's not the be-all and end-all." Ask attorney Goodnow, and he'll say: "I think homeownership is part of the American Dream for millennials, but it's no longer the cornerstone of that dream." Ask former homeowner Napolitano, and she'll say: "I think it's going to be more about fulfilling the needs of a lifestyle and a desire for a particular type of lifestyle than just a desire to have a house." In the end, perhaps the most important person to ask is yourself.