First-time homebuyers are waiting longer to buy their first homes and are spending a bigger chunk of their incomes on that first home as well. Zillow reported that Americans now rent an average of six years before buying their first home and buy homes that cost 2.6 times their annual income. In the 1970s, first-time homebuyers rented an average of 2.6 years before buying their first home and only bought homes that cost about 1.7 times their annual income. Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell told Curbed DC that this new trends is caused by Millennials moving to more expensive cities on the coasts due to their growing job markets. While Millennials do plan on buying homes, they typically don't until the age of 33. "The sheer expensiveness of the housing market has caused them to wait ... They're spending more on homes, which means that it's taking longer for them to save enough money for a down payment for a home," said Gudell. Millennials aren't only waiting on homebuying, but marriage and childbearing as well. Don't expect this trend to slow down any time soon. Gudell said that the only way this trend will slow down or flatten is if incomes grow at a faster pace and catch up with the rising costs of rents.
· Today's First-Time Homebuyers Older, More Often Single [Zillow]
· This Map Shows Where the Rent is Too Damn High in D.C. [Curbed DC]
· Mapping Every Renter and Homebuyer in Washington, D.C. [Curbed DC]
· Which Is Better: Renting or Buying? See Answers from Experts [Curbed DC]
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