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Does American dream still include owning a home? 33% in Philly region say no

Many Americans never plan to buy a home, a survey by researchers at the rental firm Zumper has found.

Real estate for sale sign. Daily News file photo
Real estate for sale sign. Daily News file photoRead moreDAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO

Tradition tells us the American Dream means a single-family home with a manageable mortgage for your growing family. But with rising student debt making saving for a down payment nearly impossible for an entire generation, a change to the dream may not be surprising.

Researchers at rental firm Zumper have been digging into the city-level data from its Annual Renter Survey, crunching data from all 50 states and D.C. to analyze Americans' plans for the future, level of financial hardship, and thoughts on the American Dream. Nationally, 31 percent of respondents said they didn't believe home ownership should make the cut in 2017. In the Philadelphia region, 33 percent of us agree.

In true contrarian style in Philadelphia, that doesn't mean that we aren't all still planning to actually buy a home. In fact, Philadelphians were the fifth most likely to report plans to buy in the future. Nationally, 21 percent of respondents reported that they planned to never buy a home. The whole report is worth a look.

Maybe Philadelphians are more likely to feel optimistic about their future and real estate because they're also some of the least rent-burdened city-dwellers in the country , spending just about 24 percent of their monthly income on rent – under the recommended limit of 30 percent by a healthy margin.