Emotional Choice

In light of higher inflation than the 2% target rate the Federal Reserve desires, the highest mortgage rates in 20 years, heightened economic insecurity, high levels of secured and unsecured debt, and growing concerns about climate change, you might expect that achieving the American Dream of owning a home may be souring, but that is not the case. According to a recent survey from Falls & Co., a Cleveland-based real estate marketing and research firm, has found that 89.5% of millennials in their prime homebuying age (25-44) believe they can archive the American Dream of owning a home—while less than one percent said that owning a home was not important to them or financially possible.

While answers to the survey varied across the board, the number one reason to own a home was emotional rather than rational. Sixty-three percent said they want to own a home just because they like the idea of owning a home. A further 44% want to own a home as an investment to build wealth over time. Big life events were also a key indicator of wanting to own a home; while numbers were not extravagant, 23% said getting married would be a reason to buy a home, and 20% said the birth of a child necessitated buying a home. So, what are millennials searching for? Primarily, 76% of millennials are searching for a detached single-family home, while 3.6% desired a condominium, 8.6% preferred an apartment, and only 3.7% desired (or could afford) to move into a mansion.

Source: DS News