Contrary to the free-floating urbanite stereotype of millennials, that under-35-year-old generation is now preoccupied with buying houses in the suburbs.
Could it be that rather than over-generalizing about generational characteristics, what we have been seeing is far simpler? Single people like living in cities, where possible mates are more plentiful and there is much more to do with them. But once they get married and have children, cities lose their appeal in favor of bourgeois considerations like home ownership and looking for a “good place to raise a family.”
Perhaps the millennials have stayed single longer than other demographic groups, but eventually adulthood kicks in. This might also apply to religious commitments, the lack of which among millennials has many churches worried. But church attendance always drops off among single adults, only to pick up again among married couples, especially once they have children.
From Some policy proposals undergirded by faulty assumptions | News OK:
ONE reason so many well-intentioned policies produce unexpected bad results is that they’re based on faulty assumptions. A recent report from the National Association of Realtors highlights how reality is proving far different than the stereotypes now cited as justification for a wide range of policy proposals.
The stereotype about “millennials” (individuals age 35 and younger) is that they prefer living in the dense urban core to living in the suburbs, prefer apartment life to single-home dwellings, and prefer “walkable” communities to driving a car.
Yet the NAR’s 2016 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report shows millennials now make up the largest share of homebuyers, accounting for 35 percent of purchases in 2015. And NAR reports a majority of millennials bought a house in the suburbs in 2015. Just 17 percent bought a home in an urban area.Another millennial stereotype is that they are burdened by more student debt than other generations. While NAR reports that younger buyers were the most likely to say student debt delayed saving for a down payment on a home, it found that millennials actually had less student debt than older generations.
The median amount of student debt held by millennials was $25,000. In comparison, the median student debt reported by Generation X buyers (aged 36 to 50) was $28,000. Younger baby boomers, those aged 51 to 60, reported median student debt of $29,100.
This is worth noting because the aforementioned stereotypes are often cited as justification for enacting a range of policies that could have dramatic impact on all Americans, including the intended beneficiaries.
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