The Millennial Tipping Point
Recession and reluctance
By Brian Seibert
To understand the roots of millennial reluctance
to become homeowners at a young age, we
have to go back to the beginning of the mortgage crisis and the punishing recession of the
late 2000s. Many Millennials had the misfortune
of watching their parents lose their homes, or
go through the stress and strain of short sales
or bankruptcies.
While Realtors® across the state of Michigan
and around the country are well aware of the
fact that the much-discussed and extremely
influential Millennial demographic has been
notably reluctant to enter the housing market,
that conventional wisdom might be changing.
A combination of evolving demographic realities, housing stock availability, rising rental prices and a number of other factors is creating a
set of circumstances where we may be on the
verge of a “Millennial tipping point” for Michigan
home buying. These factors are converging in
a way that makes it increasingly likely that many
Millennials will see the next year to two years as
the right time to take the plunge and become
homeowners.
MIREALTOR® | DECEMBER 2015
8
With that in mind, Realtors® who want to be
prepared for Millennials to enter the market in
a more robust way should take the time
to understand the
dynamics of this critical
demographic, including
appreciating why Millennials have typically
avoided
homeownership previously, what
challenges remain even
in today’s climate, and
what is changing to make homeownership more appealing to them.
We now have a
whole generation of
individuals who are
hesitant to enter the
housing market
When you consider the fact that a sizable number of Millennials experienced significant financial, social and familial
distress that may have
seemed to come about
as the direct result of
owning a home, it’s not
too surprising that we now
have a whole generation
of individuals who are
hesitant to enter the housing market, and have seemed for some
time now to view the prospect of home
ownership with deep and ingrained