Housing market impacting demographics

The housing crisis has impacted the job market, the economy, and household wealth –– and now, demographics. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates that more than 2 million household formations (marriage and/or children) have been delayed because of challenging economic conditions.

The delay on having children is seen in the Center for Disease Control (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics data on U.S. births. The more recent decline in U.S. fertility rates, which began in 2007, saw the rate fall from 69.5 to 66.7 in 2009. In contrast to the declines of the 1990s, the largest percentage declines in the current dip come from women in their 20s.

Given that this age group includes many first-time homebuyers (the median age of a first-time homebuyer in the United States is 31), it seems likely that the housing crisis is a factor.

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