Comparing Millennials and Boomers in the Current Housing Market
What you should know…
- Over 75% of Millennials and Baby Boomers think buying a home is still part of the American Dream.
- However, the COVID-19 pandemic housing affordability and competition have stood as obstacles for prospective home buyers.
The motivation to own a home has arguably never been stronger. The subsequent ability to buy a home, however, has never been more onerous.
Expected home buyers are now cascaded into a market where the availability of homes available has dwindled while the price has soared. According to the National Association of Realtors, there were 1.25 million homesfor sale at the end of October, which is a decrease of 12% compared to a year ago.
Meanwhile, the median price of an existing home was $353,900, an increase of 13.1% compared to last year.
Competition has increased for potential home buyers, and the expeditious nature by which homes are selling have skyrocketed. Compounding these explanations is the pandemic’s altering of the reasons why people are moving in the first place.
“It is really, really interesting,” said Jessica Lautz, Vice President of Demographics and Behavioral Insights. “Historically, what it has been is a change in your family situation: you have a baby, you get married, you get divorced (or) your children leave the nest…”
“But right now, what we are seeing is people moving to be close to friends and family. That’s a new one.”
It’s fair to wonder about the similarities and differences across generations when it comes to an issue as pertinent as housing.
We surveyed a total of 472 Millennials and 112 Boomers to quantify how each generation views the current housing market and expound on issues home buyers face across the country.
Unsurprisingly, the results typified the overarching narrative of current home buying. All respondents surveyed are looking to buy a home in the next year, but affordability, competition and COVID-19 served as the key barriers to making this a reality.
Key Insights
- Over 75% of Millennials and Boomers believe that owning a home is still part of the American Dream.
- 51% of Millennial respondents said that saving for a down payment was the biggest barrier to home ownership, while the majority of Boomer respondents chose a competitive market as the biggest obstacle to buying a house.
- 53% of Boomers and 47% of Millennials pushed back purchasing a home due to the pandemic.
- The main reason Millennial respondents seek to buy a home is their perceived need or want for more space, while Boomer’s believe buying a home is a good investment.
- The biggest concerns for Millennials in buying a house is unexpected or hidden costs (47%) while Boomers are most concerned with not being able to find an affordable home (39%).