Millennials Are Changing the Housing Market One Avocado at a Time

There are many stereotypes and assumptions made about the millennial generation. One is that they stay at home with their parents much longer than generations in the past. That is kind of true, but not as much as it is talked about. Roughly 32% of Americans ages 18 to 34 currently live at home with their parents, according to The Balance.

There are about 75 million millennials, meaning that approximately 25 million of them are living at home with their parents. Why is that? A big part of the reason is the Great Recession. Many millennials are putting off buying their first home because they are still struggling with the aftermath of the Great Recession.

Now that the housing market has taken a swing, though, older millennials are making up for lost time. According to USA Today, they are skipping the “starter home” and going right for the dream home. They are buying more expensive, bigger homes to raise a family and grow old. They are stocking money away while living with their parents so they can afford something big.

This year, 30% of millennials bought homes for $300,000 and above this year, which is a 14% increase from 2013. According to Inc., this generation is more likely to buy these more expensive, newer homes because they want to avoid maintenance issues and renovations. Compared to other generations, millennials are most likely to spend only $1,500 on redecorations, while Generation X will spend $2,500 and Baby Boomers will spend $3,000.

If they do buy starter homes, they aren’t planning on staying long. Roughly 68% of millennials view their starter home as a stepping stone to the home they really want. Only 11% of millennials consider a home to be permanent. The average homeowner stays in a home for 10 years, while the average millennial stays in a home for only six years.

The tides are now changing, and more and more millennials are buying homes. In fact, half of all home buyers are now under the age 36, meaning millennials are a powerful force in modern real estate. More than 66% of millennials plan to purchase a new home in the next five years, so it would be wise for sellers to start to cater to the millennial home buyer.

So what does all of this mean? Well, first, more likely to use a realtor when buying a home, and they look online for listing too. So they get to see more properties than those in the past. Second, it seems that fixer uppers and do-it-yourself home renovation are on the verge of extinction thanks to millennials.

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