Millennial Homeownership on the Rise, Survey Finds
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But student debt remains a burden.
Homeownership is up this year compared to two years ago among millennial Americans, a demographic group that now includes people well into their mid-30s, according to recent survey results released by the professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP.
But a report about the results also points to estimates indicating that 80 percent of people in this age bracket say student loans have forced them to delay homeownership. The poll found 40 percent of millennial respondents now own homes compared to 26 percent in 2016.
Across the two years, the share of millennial renters was steady at 43 percent, while the proportion living with their parents dropped to 16 percent from 30 percent.
Fifty percent of those surveyed were either paying off, or planning to take on, student debt in 2018, down slightly from 53 percent in 2016.
The survey was conducted on behalf of Ernst & Young by the company Research Now.
It polled 1,202 U.S. citizens who were 20 to 36 years-old during June and July of this year. Most of the participants—842 of them—completed an online survey and the rest were contacted by cellphone.
Even with the uptick, the age group still trails other generations when it comes to homeownership, the report says. It cites research showing that about 45 percent of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers owned their homes when they were between the ages of 25 and 34.
Beyond homeownership, a wide range of other topics were covered in the survey.
For instance, 66 percent of millennials are now working full-time, compared to 45 percent in 2016, according to the report.
And the portion of respondents who described the nation’s economy as either “good” or “excellent” is up to 41 percent this year, from 28 percent two years ago. But here views break sharply along party lines, with 75 percent of Republicans saying the current state of the economy is excellent or good, compared to just 36 percent of Democrats.
Meanwhile, only about one-third of respondents said they believe their standard of living will be better than that of their parents at their parents’ age. This finding mirrored the 2016 results.
The complete results of the survey can be found here.
Bill Lucia is a Senior Reporter for Government Executive's Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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