Missing Millennial-Led Households

More Millennials are living at home with their parents due to the continued rise of housing costs and higher levels of personal debt, according to new analysis from National Association of Home Builders.

The median price for a new home grew by about 40 percent from 2008 to 2017, and median weekly earnings for Millennials increased by only 19 percent from 2008 to 2018. Natalia Siniavskaia, assistant vice president for housing policy research at the NAHB, explains to Bankrate's Adrian D. Garcia writing for CNBC that there are about 6 percentage points, or 2.4 million would-be households, missing, as the 25 to 34 year old head of household rate has steadily trended downward since 2000. Siniavskaia adds that future Census data may reveal growth in headship rates for this group, "As the economic situation continues to improve it should give more stability and confidence to younger adults to buy their homes or leave parental homes," she says.

States with more expensive housing markets have a smaller share of 25- to 34-year-olds leading homes. California, New Jersey, Florida, New York and Hawaii are consistently among the least affordable places to live and have the lowest headship rates, some of which are well below 37 percent, according to NAHB. Less-costly states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska register the highest headship rates, ranging between 48 percent and 49 percent.

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