SWNYDREAMHOME by Tyler Schmall
New York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com
Nearly half of millennials would swear off Instagram forever, and one in four would actually go to jail for a week, if it meant they could own their dream home, according to new research.
These amusing new statistics emerged in a new survey of 500 millennials and 500 baby boomers which also found that one in four millennials would have happily attended Fyre Fest for their dream home.
But perhaps the most astounding: two in five millennials feel home ownership, in general, is completely out of the question for them.
Not only that, 30 percent of millennials feel they have a better shot at landing a date with an A-list celebrity than ever owning a home.
The survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Unison, a provider of home co-investments, aimed to shed light on how millennials feel about how society has shifted over the years as it pertains to the idea of owning homes -- among many other things.
According to the results, millennials definitely want to be homeowners, but feel it’s impossible for many reasons.
One of the more astounding revelations is that 42 percent of millennials -- nearly half -- say they want to buy a home but just can’t afford it. Compare that to the only nine percent of boomers who responded the same.
Interestingly, nearly one in three millennials feel they will actually never be able to afford a down payment, and 27 percent say the only way they will ever home is through inheritance. The home market seems to be shifting in a way that is preventing millennials from achieving their home-owning dreams.
Nearly half of millennials (47 percent) believe that buying a home now is a lot more difficult than it was thirty years ago.
And they aren’t the only ones that think so -- over half of boomers (51 percent) feel the same way, with one in four saying they “strongly” believe so.
Said Thomas Sponholtz, Unison CEO: “Millennials are very cynical, more so than their boomer counterparts, when it comes to home buying and are concerned about piling on additional debt. They want flexibility and control of their life and their finances. When they partner with Unison, who will contribute up to 15% of the downpayment, millennials have the ability to buy a home, while still having cash on hand to live the life they want.”
But it isn’t just the housing market that’s gotten worse -- at least according to millennials.
According to the data, only eight percent of millennial respondents disagree that life is harder in general now than it was when baby boomers were their age.
And it’s having a detrimental effect on their mentality, as over twice as many millennials feel they will never achieve their dreams than baby boomers.
When it comes to jobs it’s the same story.
The survey asked respondents if they’d ever had trouble just finding a job and found that 26 percent of baby boomers said they had. When it comes to millennials, that number doubled (49 percent).
The ability to not afford a down payment on a home has altered quite a bit of millennials’ trajectory, too.
For example, one in three millennials say they’ve changed their life plan due to not being able to afford a down payment on a home, and another 22 percent put off getting married for the same reason.
One in four (24 percent) have actually put off having kids. Only 5 percent of boomers could say they’ve ever done the same.
“With student debt and rising home prices, millennials have it harder than their baby boomer counterparts did at the same age,” continued Sponholtz. “Owning a home is a fundamental human desire and they might be willing to give up their iPhone, brunch, and marriage to own a home, but with Unison they don’t have to; instead, they can own the home, instead of the home owning them.”
WHAT WOULD MILLENNIALS DO FOR THEIR ‘DREAM HOME?’
I would give up my iPhone forever 29%
I would never post on Instagram again 47%
I would give up Chipotle forever 48%
I would never eat avocado toast again 39%
I would break up with my partner 9%
I would have gone to Fyre Fest 23%
I would go to jail for a week 25%
I would listen to 'Cotton Eye Joe' for a week straight 42%
I would survive in the wild for a week 28%
I would give up sex for five years 16%
I would give up sex for ten years 13%
I would give up brunch forever 36%
I would run a marathon 38%
ENDS