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Inflation Impacting Millennial Homebuying Plans Nationwide

Debt and inflation are unrelenting barriers to the dream of homeownership for millennials, according to a new survey from Real Estate Witch [1]. Clever polled 1,000 millennials looking to buy a home in the next year and found that more than 9 in 10 (92%) say inflation has impacted their homebuying plans, with more than 1 in 4 (28%) delaying their home search due to it.

The real estate market has clearly changed in the past year. Just 29% of millennials now say buyer competition is an obstacle, compared to 59% in 2022. Now, nearly half (47%) ranked high interest rates as their primary concern.

Highlights:

An estimated 62% of millennial homebuyers say they plan to put down less than 20% on a home. Only 34% of millennials did the same in 2022, further showing a significant shift in the market.

It's no surprise millennials can no longer afford heftier down payments — more than half (54%) have less than $10,000 in savings, a percentage that has tripled since 2022, when only 18% of millennials had that little. 20% have no savings at all.

More than half of millennials (53%) say they can't currently afford a home, with most (41%) citing not having money for the down payment as the primary reason. 1 in 3 (37%) worry that they may not even qualify for a mortgage. Some 3 in 4 millennials (71%) say home buying has caused them stress, and 44% say it has negatively impacted their personal relationships. A majority of millennials (51%) have even been reduced to tears during the home-search process.

Of millennials who already own a home, 82% have regrets about their purchase. The most common regret among millennial homeowners is that their interest rate is too high (22%). Millennials still in the market for a home are not overly optimistic — 3 in 4 (76%) think market conditions will worsen before they buy a home.

Despite 77% of millennials believing buying a home is still part of the American Dream, more than 1 in 3 (37%) don't think it's attainable for the average American.

To read the full report, including more data, charts and methodology, click here [2].