Market Trends

That’s a fact.  (And we all know what the 1930’s were about.)

Whether it’s due to long term trends about marriage, overwhelming student loan debt, a negative attitude toward acquiring things, a delay in taking on adulthood, some combination of the above, or something else entirely, Millennials are living with their parents in numbers not seen since the Great Depression.

32% of 18-34 year olds are living “in their parents’ basement.”  That’s now more than are living with a spouse or partner.  And it’s not all about student loan debt, as 36% of those with a high school education or less are living at home.

The age when young people first get married has risen from 21.3 years in 1956 to 25.8 in 2008, and is escalating quicker, with the current number all the way up to 27.8 years.  It appears that somewhere over a quarter of those in high unemployment groups and those with lower income prospects are not marrying and may never marry.

Maybe this is just another reason why Baby Boomers are not putting their big houses on the market and looking to downsize?

I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I do my best to keep a finger on the pulse of what’s going on in your housing market.  Remember…

 “I work harder to make good things happen!”  -Bob

Yep, that just might be the story.  Seems “After more than a decade of growing concentration, we see that the millennial trend of increased downtown living has peaked out and is now beginning to decline.” That’s according to Dowell Myers, Professor of Urban Planning and Demography at Price School of Public Policy.

So, where are they going instead?  Well, that would be the suburbs.  They’re not yet getting married and buying houses (at least not on par with earlier generations), but with the increased supply of rental homes available in the suburbs, more and more Millennials are moving to the burbs and renting single family homes.  Why are there so many single family homes available for rent?  That’s easy enough to see.  Following the financial crisis, where big banks took millions of homes through foreclosure and then sold them off to mega-investors (courtesy of ultra cheap money from the Fed).

  However, prices have been increasing in most markets.  And some markets on the east and west coasts are back in bubble land.  So, it’s no surprise that the highest percentage of home loans for Millennials are taken in the Midwest, where prices are the most sane (by far).

Want to learn how to buy right in today’s market?  EZ… call me.

“I work harder to make good things happen!”  -Bob