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News flash: real estate is expensive. High price tags are making it harder for young people to buy their first home. Homeownership has dipped to 63% in America, which is the lowest in fifty years. Just 36% of early millennials are home owners. Do young people just have less money to invest? As it turns out, pricing isn’t the only factor keeping millennials in their apartments.
There is a cultural shift afoot and it’s rippling through multiple sectors, including real estate. Take one look at politics and you’d think we couldn’t be more divided as a country. If democrats like one thing then Republicans hate it and vice versa. There’s many cultural and societal differences that are at the core of our division. However, there has been a shift that seems to penetrate party alignment.
“Growing up” and “being an adult” have new meanings in 2018. In the 1960s the average couple got married in their early twenties. These days it’s closer to 30. There’s no longer a stigma about being single in your 30s. Less people feel a rush to buy a house, often because they don’t know what job or city they’ll end up in. Even if they have a job, maybe they have plans to try something new in five years. Having kids is often a big determining factor for buying a house. In the least 18 years having children before 35 has dropped almost 10 points. People are figuring out their own lives before bringing in new ones.
This shift has happened under our nose without wall to wall coverage about it destroying families or liberating society. This unexpected agreement is effecting our economy. That, and college debt continues to tug on the pocket books of young people. Unfortunately, this financial insecurity is only going to be exacerbated by the absence of home ownership. The lack of equity is going to put many millennials in a tough spot as the reach retirement. Of course there are a number of other wealth building opportunities, but they don’t seem too keen on those either. 66% of millennials have saved nothing for retirement. On the bright side, we do live in a gig economy so it will continue to be easier to work late in life.
Despite all this information, houses are still selling like hotcakes in many markets across the United States. As a seller, it’s important to keep in mind who your likely buyers will be. These days, there a lot older than they used to be.
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