Millennials are those born after 1982 and their habits are being tracked as they will make up the majority of the housing market in the coming years. Homeownership rates for these younger Americans are at a 40-year low, and that may not change anytime soon, as fewer of them are moving residences than previous generations.
A Pew Research Center study says that Americans are moving at the lowest rate on record, in part because millennials are staying put. In 2016, 20 percent of 25-to-35-year-olds reported having moved residences in the last year, compared with about 26 percent of Gen Xers and baby boomers when they were the same age. But since millennials are less likely than previous generations to be married, have children, or own a home, why aren’t they as mobile?
One reason could be the Great Recession, which hit millennials harder than it did other Americans. Lending standards are also much tighter now than they were 15 years ago — making it tougher for millennial buyers to qualify for a mortgage — and student debt may also be a factor.
