Housing market: where millennials closed on 65% of homes
Millennials are often blamed for dragging down home ownership in this country to 20 year lows. But in the Tampa, Florida market – 65% of closed sales from 2013 to 2014 were by millennials, according to RealtyShares, an online real estate investment marketplace.
“It’s actually becoming more lucrative to buy and millennials are looking at the market again,” said Nav Athwal, the founder and CEO of RealtyShares. He believes, “2015 will be the year when we see the shift” in millennials paving the way for a healthier housing market on both the buying and renting side.
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Despite being weighed down by student loan debt along with low credit scores, Athwal thinks affordable interest rates and other government incentives are enough to lure Americans in their 20s and early 30s to become first time home buyers. “Fannie and Freddie rolled out a 3% down mortgage, so millennials are seeing this dynamic and noticing that if they buy, they can actually save more money than paying those exuberant, ever increasing rental rates,” said Athwal.
“Another dynamic that’s really interesting with millennials," noted Athwal, “is millennials are looking at real estate, not only as a consumption product, they’re looking at it as an investment product.” An investment opportunity is a different approach than how most baby boomers saw home buying, but Athwal thinks, “we’ll see millennials not only looking to buy homes they want to live in, but also buy real estate they can rent and earn income from.”
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