Top economists forecasted that 2015 would be a break-out year for millennials at the start of this year as the job market picks up and they are more comfortable with the economic environment.
“The story about millennials not forming households and getting into homebuying is more of a 2012 and early 2013 story,” Realtor.com’s Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke told HousingWire in his first annual forecast.“It’s outdated. Our view of 2015 is informed by strong trends and indicators of what’s happening today with millennials.”
And according to a new survey from the National Association of Realtors, millennials are looking to Realtors to help put them in homes.
Although the Internet was the top source of where millennials found the home they purchased (51%), they also used an agent to purchase their home at a higher share (90%) than all other generations.
Regardless of their age, buyers used a wide variety of resources in searching for a home, with the Internet (88%) and real estate agents (87%) leading the way.
Millennials were the most likely to use a real estate agent, mobile or tablet applications, and mobile or tablet search engines during their search, while Generation X buyers were the most likely to use an open house.
The largest group of recent buyers is millennials, those 34 and younger, who compose 32% of all buyers. Generation X, ages 35-49, is closely behind with a 27% share. Millennial buyers represented more than double the amount of younger boomer (ages 50-59) and older boomer (60-68) buyers (at 31%). The Silent Generation (ages 69-89) made up just 10% of buyers in the past year.
“Over 80% of millennial and Gen X buyers consider their home purchase a good financial investment, and the desire to own a home of their own was the top reason given by millennials for their purchase,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Fixed monthly payments and the long-term financial stability homeownership can provide are attractive to young adults, despite them witnessing the housing downturn and subsequent slow recovery in the early years of their adulthood.”
