Twilight of the Starter Homes
This charade of Baby Boomers freaking out about the indifference of Millennials toward the various trappings of adulthood that Boomers once held dear has gone on for long enough. It isn’t about “kids these days” anymore, since the oldest millennials are fast approaching the horizon of the AARP mailing list. Every generation grows up in noticeably different social and economic circumstances. Things that Boomers found impressive are, in the eyes of Millennials, either meh or downright undesirable. They would rather spend their money, what little of it they have, on cheap thrills of which they can cherish the memories than lock themselves into the rat race of pursuing a single-family home, complete with a two-car garage, and 2.2 children. Millennials reproduce late in life if at all. It is an oversimplification, though, to say that Millennials do not buy residential real estate. Their home buying habits are just different, not nonexistent. If you are pushing 40 and seriously considering making your first real estate purchase, contact a Washington, D.C. real estate lawyer.
Are Starter Homes the New Dinner Napkins?
We have heard the gloom and doom statistics about how Americans under 40 will never be able to purchase a house unless their parents give them money for a down payment, but it only tells part of the story about why homeownership rates are lower among people in their 30s than they were a generation ago. Yes, Millennials are in a less strong position to qualify for home mortgages. Prices are high, and wages are stagnant; to say that saving for a down payment and keeping up with mortgage payments is an uphill battle is an understatement.
In a recent article on the Newsweek website, Suzanne Blake points out another reason why people under 40 make fewer real estate purchases than their elders did at their age. A generation ago, real estate was easy come, easy go. People would buy a house or condo with the intention of selling it at a profit several years later. Newlywed couples would buy a starter home, one that they could afford in their current financial circumstances but which was not big enough to accommodate the family they eventually hoped to have.
The younger generations, Millennials and Generation Z, are not interested in starter homes. They do not want to buy a house unless they are sure it is where they want to settle permanently. On the one hand, waiting longer to make a real estate purchase means they have more time to save for a down payment and establish a strong credit history. The bad news is that, even when you wait, it is not easy to do those things, not when rents are through the roof, people with six-figure incomes live paycheck to paycheck, and people with professional jobs charge their groceries on buy now pay later (BNPL) on a regular basis.
Contact Tobin O’Connor Ewing About First Time Homebuying
A Washington, D.C. real estate attorney can help you buy someone else’s starter home and make it your forever home. Contact Tobin, O’Connor, and Ewing in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.
Source:
newsweek.com/gen-z-millennials-dont-want-buy-starter-homes-2069778
