On Monday, October 26th, I joined a virtual townhall meeting held by Realtor.com that focused on millennials and the housing market. The discussion featured Julian Castro, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. It also featured Jonathan Smoke, who is the chief economist for Realtor.com.
Some of interesting statistics they mentioned:
- Millennials make up 27% of US population
- Millennials constitute 68% of first time homebuyers
- In the past year, millennials constituted 15% of sellers
- About 60% of millennials are currently renting
- 65-70% of adult millennials have looked at real estate online in a given month
Some of the other topics they covered:
- The reduction in the FHA’s monthly mortgage insurance premium (MIP) from 1.35% to 0.85% in January 2015 has helped with affordability.
- The misinformation about down payment requirements
- HUD-approved housing counseling agencies are helping people prepare for home ownership
- Industry regulations prevent people from buying
Secretary Castro mentioned that homeownership provides stability to individuals, families, and communities, and I think that resonates with the millennial generation.
Photo courtesy of Commonwealth Club (Flickr)