In a recent report [1] by PurePoint Financial, [2] a division of MUFG Union Bank, N.A., Purepoint said the U.S. savings rate dropping to a five-year low could be followed by a redefinition of the American Dream.
According to the report, 71 percent of Americans believe the American Dream has changed, and 64 percent define financial success as simply not living paycheck-to-paycheck. Though most Americans admitted to being concerned about the future, only one-third of American’s save 10 percent or less of each paycheck and half have no retirement savings.
In an earlier report [3], Apartment List [4] found that 80 percent of the 24,000 millennial renters it surveyed want to purchase a home or condo, but due to their savings, it could mean waiting at least two decades before they can afford to.
“These results underscore the long-term crisis that home ownership in the United States may face, as millennials delay buying a home until later in life,” the Apartment List report said.
One of the most pressing questions in the housing market is whether the nation’s largest generation will purchase homes at rates similar to their parents or if they will continue to rent long into adulthood, or even indefinitely, according to the report.
At the FORCE Rally within the 2017 Five Star Conference and Expo, Nancy Braun, Owner of Showcase Realty, LLC [5] in Charlotte, North Carolina, said to navigate this problem, agents and brokers have to be creative on how to help millennials save or get support for their down payment.
“I just heard of a really interesting program in Seattle where a company is going to pay millennials down payment,” Braun said. “In exchange, the new owner of the property will participate in Airbnb and split the profit with the company. Obviously, people are getting creative as far as giving them options.”