New data from the Census Bureau shows that almost 40% of young Americans were living with their parents in 2015. That’s the highest rate since 1940. I have regularly encouraged Millennials to buy a home if possible (read here, here and here). Chris Kirkham reports in The Wall Street Journal that with so many young Americans living in their family homes, there’s much lower demand for housing than there would be typically.
The trend runs counter to that of previous economic cycles, when after a recession-related spike, the number of younger Americans living with relatives declined as the economy improved.
The result is that there is far less demand for housing than would be expected for the millennial generation, now the largest in U.S. history. The number of adults under age 30 has increased by 5 million over the last decade, but the number of households for that age group grew by just 200,000 over the same period, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Analysts point to rising rents in many cities and tough mortgage-lending standards as the culprit, making it difficult for younger Americans to strike out on their own.
Read more here.
