Fewer Millenials Buying Homes

Trulia recently studied old census data, as well as current population surveys, to try to figure out why less and less millennials are buying homes. Are they renting? Moving somewhere else? What is going on? Well, it turns out that more and more millennials are staying put – with mom and dad, that is.

About 40% of millennials are living at home with their parents. The last time 40% of adults ages 18-34 were living with their parents was in 1940. Back then, the country was still feeling the effects of the Great Depression. By 1950, only about 30% of adults ages 18-34 were still living with their parents. By 1960, that number had gone down to about 24%, the lowest it ever was.

The Federal Reserve recently completed another study that shows more millennials are living at home, but tied their findings to student loan debt. Apparently the more student loans a millennial has, the more likely he is living at home with his parents. For a 25-year old with student debt, his chances of living at home go up about 3% for every additional $1000 in debt.

Whether it’s student debt or the cost (financial or otherwise) of homeownership, millennials are buying far fewer homes now than they were before the economy crashed in the last decade.