Build It They Will Come?

Build it and they will come? Depending on what you’re building and who “they” are, this may not be the case. Millennials are not connecting with the home buying industry. Home buyers are starting to recognize the reasons behind this disconnect.

Commitment

They want flexibility. A house is an expensive lifetime commitment. This is a generation accustom to  instant gratification so the thought of committing to buying a house that won’t actually be totally theirs for 30 years isn’t appealing to some millennials.

Money

Millennials have not only become more knowledgeable of the pitfalls of debit and credit cards, they have been faced with the harsh job market as well.

What does this mean for the market? We’ve discussed in previous blogs the typical pattern of home buying; a young couple would get married buy a home and then sells the home and retire in their golden years. But with the lower number of millennials interested or prepared for becoming a homeowner this is causing a disconnect with the building market.

On the other side, millennials interested in buying are finding a lack of financial institutions willing to give millennials a home loan. The same companies that buried them in student loan debit are hesitant to fund home building/buying.

Green

Millennials are more focused on living green and making a social impact than the traditional American dream.

There is a shortage of builders who will build the type of home millennials are looking for. Millennials interested in home owning sooner, rather than later, want environmentally safe homes. They desire energy efficiency, solar panels, etc. The idea of living in a cul-de-sac of identical huge homes is not as appealing as it used to be.

In order for millennials to reconnect to the home industry they need to find loans and builders who can build green homes for them.