Eighty percent of millennials report that they would like to buy a home, and a majority even say that it’s part of their five-year plan. Yet 68 percent have less than $1,000 saved. Almost half, or 44 percent, have saved nothing at all, according to new data from Apartment List.
Apartment List reports that “72 percent [of millennials] said affordability is the primary obstacle” to purchasing real estate. And many of those who have been to college are hampered by the loans they had to take out to finance their educations. According to their findings, “high levels of student debt and stagnant career opportunities have long kept millennials sidelined from the real estate market.” It defines millennials as those born between 1982 and 2004.
When the cost of college started rising sharply in the 1990s, the universities jacking up the prices probably didn’t consider the effect their actions would have on the real estate market of today. Now, student loans are a primary reason given why millennials would like to buy homes but cannot afford to.