Many parts of commercial real estate have been stars in a dull pandemic economic firmament. But what will the future bring? For companies involved in building and selling single-family homes, condos, and coops, given the significant housing gap that exists, the future might seem even brighter.

But to make money on homes, there needs to be buyers. Millennials, ranging from 25-year-olds to 40, should be the current and growing wave. But a three-part study based on surveys from the U.K.-based financial services firm Legal & General suggest otherwise. 

The first part laid out a basic theme that home ownership for millennials was "a distant dream for most." About 56 percent of the 875 surveyed US  millennials who don't currently own a home say that housing in their area is either hard or extremely hard to afford. The number rises to 70% for those living in large metropolitan areas. A little more than a third would move to a smaller town if it were more affordable. Nearly two-thirds find cities unaffordable.