9 Mind-Blowing Facts About the Millennial Housing Market

The housing market looks a lot different today than it did a couple generations ago.

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Faced with financial challenges, it’s little wonder that millennials are buying different types of homes and in different types of locations than their parents did. And they are buying under different circumstances, too, often waiting longer, buying before marriage, or living with their parents to save cash so they don’t have to wait years for homeownership.

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Here are nine surprising facts about the millennial housing market that put it in perspective.

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• Millennials face house prices 39% higher than their parents did in the 1980s –  Today’s average home price is more than 70% higher than what a buyer faced in the 1960s.

• Rent prices are up nearly 50% over the last half century – Average rent rates have increased by 46%, meaning just affording a rental is harder than ever, let alone saving up to buy.

• Many millennials turn to ‘super commuting’ to find homes they can afford – In order to find homes they can afford while sticking with a job, many millennials are buying residences in the exurbs and accepting a daily commute of two or more hours.

• Birmingham, Alabama, has seen the biggest growth of millennial home ownership increases in recent years – In 2017, millennial homeowners accounted for an impressive 18% of total homeownership in Birmingham, Alabama.

• 33 of the nation’s top 50 housing markets saw increases in millennial home buying – The majority of the nation’s top 50 housing markets have actually seen increases in millennial homeownership in recent years.

• In some markets, homes built before 2012 are selling at close to 50% discounts because they’re too big and spacious for millennials – According to the Wall Street Journal, homes around Scottsdale, Arizona, that are worth millions of dollars are selling at discounts of close to 50% because younger buyers aren’t interested in all that space.

• A quarter of home-buying millennials are buying homes before getting married – The traditional approach to life put marriage ahead of buying a home with a partner, but millennials aren’t overly concerned with tradition.

• One in three millennial homebuyers tapped into a retirement account to get cash for the purchase – This trend alarms financial experts, who advise people to be paying into these accounts during these younger working years, not depleting them.

• Nearly two thirds of millennial homeowners have regrets about their purchase – Their most common complaints are miscalculating the hidden costs of the purchase and the ongoing expenses the home demands.

To read the full story, please visit the Business Insider website by clicking here.