According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recent 2019 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends, older Millennials, ages 26-35, represented 26% of all home buyers and that a total of younger and older Millennials combined represented 37% of all homebuyers in Q4 2018. Also, 2018 was the sixth consecutive year that Millennials were in the driver’s seat in terms of home sales.
Younger Millennials are the most likely to get “down payment help” from their families than other demographic groups. Those Millennials getting help only have to wait an average of 2 years to gather enough money for a down payment whereas Millennials not getting help wait nearly 10 years to gather their funds. As a whole, some 20% of younger Millennial buyers are non-married couples while only 8% of all homebuyers are unmarried couples.
Gen Xers represented 24% of homebuyers in Q4 2018. Of that 24%, one in 6 Gen Xers bought multi-generational homes that could accommodate adult children who never set up their own households or adult children who moved back in to their parents’ homes. NAR’s recent Generational Trends report indicates there are now more Gen X buyers wanting multi-family housing units than there are young Boomers wanting multi-family housing units.
NAR also indicated that 25% of all younger Boomer and Silent Generation buyers in Q4 2018 were women. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said, “Many of these buyers are entering the market after a divorces…or the death of a spouse.”
Meanwhile, according to Multi-Housing News, the manufactured housing market had a big year in 2018. NorthMarq reported 17 years of rent growth and a 92.7% occupancy rate. Average rents reached $1,530/month, an increase of +3.9% from the previous year. The median price of a manufactured unit rose +11.7% to $33,900.
Don Vedeen, vice president of NorthMarq’s National Manufactured Housing Group, said “Despite the consistent rent growth, which makes these assets attractive to investors, other housing options continue to become less affordable due to rising construction costs in traditional multi-family properties. Manufactured housing remains an appealing option for affordable housing investors (up +20% in 2018) given its consistency compared to the apartment sector.”
