The millennials were saying the same thing...right up until they all started buying houses (and are currently the largest group of home buyers).
I see no reason why the Zs and Alphas will be any different.
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The curve may be a few years behind...but people are living longer and delaying major life events. Total anecdata, but as a millennial almost none of my urbanite millennial friends owned homes until the last 5 years. The only ones who did are the ones who got married at like 22. The ones who delayed marriage and/or kids until their 30s also delayed home ownership.
It is easy to be 20 and look out at the world and say "gosh, how could I ever afford that". It is another thing to have a more stable job, have a spouse that earns an income, have the fruits of saving for years, have a better understanding of how mortgages work...and suddenly the pieces start to fall into place.
You also see a preference shift...family with little kids suddenly starts looking at the house in the affordable suburb with decent schools that they never would have considered when they lived in a cool nightlife neighborhood at 25. And yeah...they still can't afford a sizable 3br place in the cool neighborhood, but that's OK because they don't go out 3x a week anymore.