As entry-level homes become scarcer, more expensive, and of a worse quality, millennials, one of the largest group of homebuyers looking at these homes, face the most obstacles and most often have to put their plans to purchase a home on hold or make compromises on the homes they buy, according to a recent study by Trulia [1].
The study [2] found that 87 percent of millennials were encountering obstacles that were delaying their home buying plans, more than any other age group.
These findings come after Trulia commissioned an online survey of more than 2,000 Americans ages 18 and older, to understand the hard decisions faced by home shoppers. Almost 9 in 10 or 86 percent of the millennials surveyed said that they planned to buy a home and of these, 35 percent were planning to purchase a home within the next year, and 57 percent planned to buy their own abode in the next two years.
The most common obstacles faced by 98 percent of the millennials who planned to purchase a home in the next year were rising home prices, saving enough for a down payment and poor credit history.
Millennials, the study indicated, also had unique problems that were not faced by the previous generations with 17 percent citing not having a stable job and 15 percent who said that student debt had hindered their home buying decisions. These obstacles were prompting millennials to seriously consider trade-offs in both their desired homes and neighborhoods, Trulia said.
In fact, 84 percent said they were willing to give up one or more desired home feature compared with 78 percent Gen Xers and 65 percent of boomers. Eighty-nine percent of millennial buyers said that they would be willing to give up one or more neighborhood features compared with 81 percent boomers.’
Some of the home features that millennials were more willing to trade off on than the older generations in their quest to buy a home included garage, recently updated kitchen, storage space, yard, a bedroom, and a bathroom.
Financial concerns topped the list of homebuyer obstacles with 34 percent saying that saving enough for a down payment, 33 percent citing rising home prices and 21 percent saying poor credit history was their top financial obstacles to purchasing a home, the study found.