Millennials accounted for more than one third of all home purchases in 2017, and had the most homebuying activity of all generations for the fifth year in a row, says the 2018 generational trends report from the National Association of Realtors.
In the 2018 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study from the NAR, two unique traits of Millennial homebuyers emerged. This generation is most likely to use a real estate agent at 90 percent, as opposed to 84 percent from every other generation studied. These homebuyers say that real estate agents help clarify the buying process, the top benefit cited. Millennials are also more likely to live closer to friends and family, HousingWire reports.
“These challenging market conditions have caused – and will continue to cause – many aspiring Millennial buyers to continue renting unless more Gen Xers decide to sell, and entry-level home construction picks up significantly,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. But because of some of these challenges, the market has also seen an increase in multigenerational homes as more adult children opted to live at home with their Gen X or Baby Boomer parents, increasing from 30 percent last year to 39 percent.
