David Einhorn says young Americans are too ‘impatient’ to buy homes. With mortgages near 7%, is he wildly out of touch?

Thomas Kent

Tue, September 22, 2026 at 5:45 AM PDT 8 min read

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Billionaire hedge fund manager David Einhorn believes he knows why younger Americans are struggling to buy homes: They have lost their patience.

"I sense the younger generation is just more impatient," the Greenlight Capital cofounder said during an episode of Morgan Stanley's Break the Playbook (1) series.

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"They'd rather, you know, speculate in crypto or speculate in stocks or speculate on sporting events and try to build wealth by guessing those things correctly," he continued. "And some of them will have some success with that, and others will have less success."

Einhorn argued that buying a house and paying off a mortgage over 30 years requires long-term discipline that "might be in short supply."

Even though some evidence might support his claim, with mortgage rates approaching 7%, home prices sitting near record highs and younger buyers entering a vastly different market than their parents did, impatience hardly tells the whole story.

Einhorn has a point about chasing quick returns

Some young investors really are diverting money from long-term goals toward riskier bets.

A 2026 Betterment survey (2) found that 52% of Gen Z investors had redirected money intended for investments into sports betting during the previous year. More than a quarter (26%) described sports betting as part of an ongoing financial strategy, as reported by Fortune (3).

That can have painful consequences.

Unlike a diversified investment that can appreciate or produce income, a wager ends when the game does — and the house is designed to win over the long run.

Saving a down payment also requires consistency. Someone putting away several hundred dollars every month may need years to reach their target, especially once they include closing costs and an emergency fund.

A high-yield account like a Wealthfront Cash Account can be a great place to grow your uninvested cash, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your money when you need it.

A Wealthfront Cash Account currently offers a base rate APY of 3.55% through program banks. With a new client boost and direct deposit incentive, referred clients can earn up to a 4.55% APY.