Who Is Driving Demand For Property In US?
As they battled the global economic crisis of 2008, housing markets in the US pinned their hopes on the young for a turnaround. All they got was disappointment, as the millennials stayed away from the market. Much water has flown down the bridge since then. The US economy has sprung back to its feet and property markets have stablised. Now, guess who is driving the housing demand at present?
Yes, the millennials, people who attained adulthood around the year 2000, have arrived and are up and running.
According to a Bloomberg report, “Not very long ago, it was fashionable to ask if millennials would ever crawl out of their parents' basements and into a realtor's office. Enthusiasm for that view, which had gained wide exposure by 2012, lost steam as mortgages got easier to come by and millennials kept insisting that no, actually, they do want to own a home.”
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Data show it to be true.
Based on the results of a survey of over 13,000 participants, Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report last year showed that half the home buyers in the US were under 36. “Millennials are shaping the market more than anyone realised. In fact, half of all buyers are under 36 and half of sellers are under 41,” said Zillow Chief Marketing Officer, Jeremy Wacksman.
According to Realtor.com, 52 per cent of home buyers in 2017 would be first timers. According to Urban Institute, lending to first-time home buyers has reached to 2001 levels.
The Zillow report also shows that millennials are seen buying large and as expensive homes in the suburbs. Typically, a first-time home buyer invests into a small house; it is the second home that is bigger in size and expensive. Whatever cost is saved owing to the location i.e. suburbs, is utilised in booking a bigger carpet area.
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“As urban cores have soared in popularity, so have the price tags on urban homes. To afford bigger homes, and to find the shared amenities they like such as community gyms and pools, many millennials are willing to live farther out,” the Zillow report said.