When is the right time to purchase your first home? The answer differs across age groups.
One in five parents say they expect their child to own a home by age 25, yet this doesn’t match up to reality. Younger adults tend to feel the most pressure to own a home, but they’re still waiting on their own time terms, according to a new survey from Porch.com, a home remodeling website. Porch.com surveyed nearly 1,000 individuals between the ages of 18 to 81.
Millennials thought that 30 is the ideal age to buy a home; Gen Xers said 28; and baby boomers said age 27 was the best for buying a home.
Millennials between the ages of 25 to 34 have been slow to catch up to the rates of homeownership that Gen Xers or baby boomers showed at the same age, Urban Institute data shows. Millennials are marrying at later ages and have high student debt to blame for delaying their debut into homeownership. They now represent the largest buying force in the housing industry, according to research this year from the National Association of REALTORS®.
Overall, millennials tend to feel the most judgment from their parents in relation to their life goals, whether that’s buying a home, getting married, or having financial independence. But other generations also feel some pressure, particularly about the adequacy of their home purchase.
“Purchasing a home is one of the most complex and expensive decisions most of us make, so it’s easy to see how not choosing the right style, location, or size can invoke criticism from relatives,” the report notes. “Of the three generations, millennials felt the least amount of pressure from relatives when it came to housing choices, whereas both baby boomers and Gen Xers felt slightly more judged.”
Source: “Exploring Generational Differences in Life Goals,” Porch.com (June 4, 2019)
