Narrative Violation: US Millenials Are Buying More Homes \ stacker news ~econ

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Narrative Violation: US Millenials Are Buying More Homes

4473 sats \ 12 comments \ @kr 29 Jan econ

I was under the impression that US millennials were being priced out of the housing market and were struggling to keep up with rising real estate prices.

However, this chart from the US Census Bureau seems to show that Americans under 44 represent the fastest growing cohorts for home ownership.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/07/younger-householders-drove-rebound-in-homeownership/_jcr_content/root/responsivegrid/imagecore.coreimg.jpeg/1688674742084/figure-1.jpeg

I then went to look at overall home ownership rates, this chart from The Federal Reserve surprised me too.

Home ownership rates across all cohorts are higher now than basically anytime in the last 50 years (except the decade around the GFC housing bubble).

Maybe inflation hasn’t been as tough on people as I thought?

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1089 sats \ 0 replies \ @satoshiplanet 29 Jan freebie

I am not aware of the situation in the US, as a european in my thirties I decided to buy instead of renting, here rents are as expensive as fixed mortgages, it is better to pay same amount month by month and own it after a few years, instead of paying more and more expensive monthly payments to never own it. Maybe it is a vague and simplistic reflection but I think it influences to some extent

579 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 29 Jan

Many narratives are driven by unrealistic expectations.

465 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr OP 29 Jan freebie

any theories as to why young people are seeing their home ownership rates go up faster than all other cohorts?

are young people actually doing better economically than they were in 2016? are they just stretching their finances in a desperate attempt to own property?

783 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 29 Jan

are they just stretching their finances in a desperate attempt to own property?

That's closest to what I've heard. Again, though, who knows how reliable that narrative is. What I've heard is that millennials are finally starting families and buying homes after delaying those things longer than prior generations.

That seems slightly at odds with ownership rates increasing over time for each age cohort. However, it could still be true that the average age of first home purchase is increasing along with the likelihood to ever buy a home.

I would also be willing to speculate that prolonged historically low interest rates led to an increased willingness to take on tons of debt.

465 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 29 Jan freebie

i just looked at canadian rates of home ownership for comparison, and it is telling a different story.

Canadians from 30-49 have lower home ownership rates than previous generations.

seems like it might be a US-centric phenomenon, maybe young Americans are actually doing better financially than they were in 2016 (and Canadians are doing worse)…

https://i0.wp.com/betterdwelling.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/image007.png?w=1078&ssl=1

Full article: https://betterdwelling.com/canadian-homeownership-rate-is-falling-sharply-for-young-adults/

416 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 29 Jan

Very interesting! It looks to me like Canadian Boomers were very good at funneling resources to themselves.

391 sats \ 1 reply \ @02bcd3eeb0 30 Jan

Are they buying houses or are they renting houses from the bank?

33 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 30 Jan

time will tell 😬

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TomK 30 Jan

This yield cycle could be short and trap a lot of youngsters as it might reverse soon and hard. It's always the same in Fiatlandia.