Despite their combined six-figure income, young Americans Laura and Samuel Graves’ dream of owning their own home has been shattered. They have no choice but to start a family in an apartment in a suburb of Portland while they patiently search for a house that fits their budget.

“We refuse to become house poor and, like many others, prefer to wait until the housing market returns to a reasonable level,” Laura, who works as a financial analyst, told Business Insider in an article published on Sunday.

Combined with her husband’s salary as an electrician, the couple earns about $250,000 a year. According to the report, they hope to keep their monthly mortgage payment at about $3,000, but most of the homes they have their eye on exceed that amount by about $2,000 on average. They have also stated that they are cutting back on retirement savings and child care costs to improve their situation.

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Americans continue to face the challenges of a difficult real estate market. (Photo by Liu Guanguan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Count this Millennial couple among the large number of people who do not want to be financially burdened by housing-related costs in today’s market and have chosen alternative living situations to mitigate these expenses.

In the case of Laura and Samuel, they save only three percent of their income for retirement instead of the ideal 15 percent and send their children to a part-time camp instead of a full-time summer camp, the report says.

Given the high prices and interest rates, the idea of ​​saving enough money to move into their dream home seems a long way off for the couple.

“Our kids have started talking about how much they want a house and their own rooms,” Laura told the outlet. “We’ll never get those years back. If we buy, we won’t even need room for a playset anymore.”

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The Graves family told Business Insider they have set aside 3 percent of their income for retirement. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

But there is positive news for potential homebuyers. A Realtor.com report released earlier this month found that home prices fell in July as sellers tried to attract potential buyers. The median price fell to $439,950 from $445,000 the previous month.

“First, interest rates are higher than expected, which means there is less buyer activity,” said Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com. “Second, the prospect of lower mortgage rates in the fall may have caused some buyers to wait. This combination has caused sellers to lower their prices to attract more buyers.”

According to a Zillow estimate, the average home value in the Portland area, where the Graves family is looking for a home, is $541,000, and in the suburb of Wilsonville, where they currently live, it is $642,000, Business Insider reported.

But waiting for the market is not the only sacrifice that buyers had to make.

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Some social media trends suggest that millennials have made sacrifices in other ways as well, even going so far as to live in low-cost vans to save up for their dream of homeownership.

According to Redfin, cost has become such a significant factor that about one in five potential homebuyers consider looking for a cheaper home in a less safe neighborhood.

Other young adults have had to rely on their parents’ help to pay the down payment on a home or have even chosen to live with their parents longer to reduce their financial burden and save more money for the future.

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FOX Business’ Kendall Tietz and Megan Henney contributed to this report.