The millennial reputation is often one of rebelling against tradition. However, there appears to be at least one that is important to them.
A recent survey shows that most millennials still want to buy and own a home — and that they consider it to be a fundamental part of the “American dream.” However, ValueInsured’s quarterly survey revealed that even among non-homeowning millennials interested in buying homes “within the next year,” their confidence in their ability to do so was below 50 percent.
In summer 2016, confidence in home buying rose to 47 percent of millennials. Now, in the summer 2017, that number is 34 percent, its lowest percentage in the last 18 months.
While the number of millennials who desire to buy homes stays consistent in surveys year after year (approximately eight out of ten millennials), in 2016 a lot of them made this a reality with 34 percent of all homes bought by their generation that year.
However, according to Bank of America’s lead executive in consumer lending D. Steve Boland, “The overwhelming majority of millennial homeowners say their current home is a ‘stepping stone’ to their forever home.”
ValuInsured’s survey shows that while confidence among home buying millennials at an all time low, they are still becoming owners. This though, has required them to compromise.
Many millennials are either:
- buying smaller homes (with no room for future expansion)
- “fixer-uppers” which come with costly renovation
- opting for further work commutes to live outside of city limits (despite the recent millennial trends to be city-dwellers)
- going to family for financial help in purchasing a home that exceeds their budget
On the other hand, more millennials than any other generation, aged 18 to 34, are living with their parents after college – mostly for financial reasons. That is what the lack of confidence in homeowning truly boils down to: economic and financial instability.
