Why Millennials Are Not Buying Homes

The Urban Institute recently released a report on why Millennials are not buying houses and they discovered for Millennials ages 25 to 34, their homeownership rate is 8 percentage points lower than it was for Baby Boomers and Gen X at this age. Why?

Millennials love living in high cost cities where it’s tough to save money for a down payment and to be able to afford to buy a home.

Second, they are waiting longer to get married and have kids. In 1990, 52% of 18 to 34 year olds were married. In 2015, only 38% of young adults were married.

In 2015, 40% of Millennial households are not married and have no children, up from 27% in 1990.

The cause for these 2 facts? Student loan debt now totals $1.4 trillion vs only $241 in 2003. The Urban Institute wants the mortgage market to make credit easier to get, instead of dealing with the root issue—the high cost of college.