Downsizing is losing its appeal, and most home buyers are supersizing their home again to accommodate a growing number of people under one roof, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ newly released 2019 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report.
Multigenerational homes are growing in demand. One in six Gen Xers purchased a home that could accommodate multiple generations, and most of them did so because of their adult children, who have either moved back in or never left home.
“The high cost of rent and lack of affordable housing inventory is sending adult children back to their parents’ homes either out of necessity or an attempt to save money,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “While these multigenerational homes may not be what a majority of Americans expect out of homeownership, this method allows younger potential buyers the opportunity to gain their financial footing and transition into homeownership. In fact, younger millennials are the most likely to move directly out of their parents’ homes into homeownership, circumventing renting altogether.”
Older millennials, aged 29 to 38, also purchased multigenerational homes at 9 percent and were the most likely to say they did so in order to take care of their aging parents or so they could spend more time with their parents.
Home Characteristics
Overall, the most common type of home purchased continues to be a detached single-family home (making up 82 percent of all homes purchased), according to NAR’s report. Buyers over the age of 73 purchased townhomes at higher shares than other generations, but the detached single-family home remained the most popular among all age groups.
The typical home purchased was 1,900 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The average home purchased was built in 1991, according to the report.
The size of homes for buyers ages 39 to 53 were typically larger homes at 2,100 square feet compared to buyers 28 years or younger, averaging 1,600 square feet, as well as buyers 73 and older, whose purchased homes averaged 1,700 square feet.
Suburbia remained the most desirable location for a home. Fifty-one percent of home buyers across generations purchased a home in a suburb or subdivision, followed by 20 percent in a small town, 14 percent in an urban area or central city, 13 percent in a rural area, and 2 percent in a resort location.
The average price of the home purchased varied across generations, too:
- 28 and younger: $177,000
- 29 to 38: $274,000
- 39 to 53: $277,800
- 54 to 63: $251,100
- 64 to 72: $250,000
- 73 to 93: $243,000
Home Tenure
The majority of buyers expect to stay in their home a median of 15 years (with millennials 38 and younger expected to stay the least at 10 years). But several factors could influence homeowners’ choice to move to a new home. Life changes—like starting a family, retiring, or having an empty nest—were among the top motivators to make homeowners move sooner.
Source: “2019 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report,” National Association of REALTORS® (April 1, 2019)
