Where you are in life will determine what type of home you shop for when it comes time to buy a house. For example, first-time home buyers – because they tend to be younger and at the beginning of their careers – buy smaller homes and then trade up to a bigger house when they make more money, have more children, etc. But societal changes affect your choice of home as well. How? Well, a recent survey from the National Association of Realtors provides an answer. Their 2019 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study found that Gen X home buyers have recently surpassed younger baby boomers as the generation most likely to buy a multi-generational home. And, the majority of them did so because their adult children had either moved back in with them or never left home. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says there are some obvious societal factors driving this trend. “The high cost of rent and lack of affordable housing inventory is sending adult children back to their parents’ homes either out of necessity or an attempt to save money,” Yun said. But though it may seem like a negative development, it does provide younger millennials who live with their parents the ability to save for homeownership and gain some financial stability before buying their first house. More here.
