A new report from Fannie Mae suggests the millennial generation is getting a move on.
"According to the ACS [Census Bureau's American Community Survey], the number of homeowners aged 25-34 fell by more than 250,000 in each year between 2007 and 2012, but has declined by less than 100,000 annually since then," Fannie Mae says.
"In fact, the decline between 2013 and 2014 was statistically insignificant, the first indication of stability in the number of young homeowners since the onset of the Great Recession."
So while the number of homeowners in that age range is still on the decline, the trend looks poised for a reversal, and Fannie Mae says it won't take much to see positive growth in millennial homeownership in the near future.
The team ran an analysis with three scenarios for the future of homeownership in this generation. The first assumes a continuation of the decline that took place between 2012 and 2014. The second assumes the pace remains the same as what was seen in 2014, and the third predicts a slight recovery that would see homeownership return to its longer-term trend by the end of the decade.
Scenario one is the only case that yields a further decline, and Fannie Mae is of the mind that this particular outcome isn't highly likely as strength in the labor market continues and the dream of homeownership lives on in the hearts of young adults.
A report published by Goldman Sachs earlier this year, also pointed to millennials' desire to leave the family homestead. The firm's survey showed that only 12% of millennials rated homeownership as "not very important," while 20% already owned a home or were in the process of buying one, and nearly 70% said ownership was either "very important" or "important," but not a near-term goal.
Fannie Mae figures that homebuilders will need to adjust to the realities of a sudden upswing in millennial buyers, with an expected adjustment in the "size, type and geographic location of new housing construction." In other words, bye, bye basements.
