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Half of millennials now own homes, new data finds

by Adam Barnes - 04/07/23 5:26 PM ET

FILE – A “sold” is posted outside a single family home in a residential neighborhood, in Glenside, Pa., Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped again this week, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, to their highest level in almost 14 years, certain to keep even more potential buyers out of a housing market that’s cooled considerably since the Federal Reserve began jacking up its benchmark borrowing rate. .(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The nation’s largest generation made the jump to a homeowner majority last year, reaching more than 18 million, according to a recent report from Rent Café.

Rent Café’s report found that 51.5 percent of millennials now own a home. This population, which consists of those born between 1981 and 1996, added seven million homeowners in the previous five years alone.

For the report, Rent Café analyzed generational trends in both homeownership and renting across the U.S., using data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series for the nation’s 110 largest metros.

The new data on buyers shows they are still keen on homeownership despite over a year of growing interest rates put in place by the Federal Reserve to cool down record inflation.

The nationwide listing service attributes millennial gains to a confluence of factors ranging from their ability to work remotely during the pandemic to an increase in the median income level and financial help from their parents.

Yet millennials achieved this foundational element of the American dream later in life than some earlier generations like baby boomers and Generation X.

Millennials became a homeowner majority generation when the average member was 34 years old while Gen X reached the milestone by 32 and baby boomers by 33.

A home for sale is seen on Dec. 8, 2020, in Orlando, Fla.

Home prices have soared in recent years following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic hampering the plans of many aspiring homebuyers, especially those seeking to purchase their first homes.

Sky high mortgage rates also pushed many buyers out of the market and back toward renting. Rent Café’s report showed millennials are still the dominant renter generation in 2022 with 17.2 million renters.

A separate report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows baby boomers still have an edge over their younger counterparts, making up 39 percent of the purchase market in 2022.

The share of millennial buyers in 2022 fell to 28 percent from 41 percent a year before.

“Baby boomers have the upper hand in the homebuying market,” Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement.

“The majority of them are repeat buyers who have housing equity to propel them into their dream home – be it a place to enjoy retirement or a home near friends and family. They are living healthier and longer and making housing trades later in life,” she added.