The home ownership rate among those who are under 35 will continue to drop through 2025, according to a new report released by John Burns, a real estate consultant.
In 2004, the home ownership rate peaked at just under 70 percent for all age groups. Americans born in the 1970s were 25 to 34 years old at the time and were forming new households at a fast rate with nearly 50 percent owning a home then. That is 5 percent higher than the average rate since 1981, according to Burns’ study.
But it’s tougher to qualify for mortgages for now and younger buyers, many saddled with more student debt than previous generations, are taking longer to move out of their parents’ homes. The home ownership rate among 25 to 34 year olds now stands at 39 percent.
Meanwhile that same generation born in the 1970s, which is now 35 to 44 years old, has seen a 7 percent drop in home ownership, now at 59 percent. That is the lowest rate for a 35 to 44 year old age group since tracking began in the early 1980s, Burns says.
Source: “Millennials Will Be Renting for a Lot Longer,” CNBC (Sept. 9, 2016)
