Baby Boomers Overtake Millennials as Largest Generation of Home Buyers (2024)

FAQs

Do baby boomers overtake millennials as prime homebuying generation? ›

They had the highest median household income of any generation ($114,300), followed by older millennials ($102,900). In addition to leading the way in home buying, baby boomers remained the largest home seller generation, jumping from 42% in 2021 to 52% in 2022.

Millennials were the largest generation group in the U.S. in 2022, with an estimated population of 72.24 million. Born between 1981 and 1996, Millennials recently surpassed Baby Boomers as the biggest group, and they will continue to be a major part of the population for many years.

Here's a profile of this generation, their challenges when it comes to homebuying, and their behavior when they do become homeowners. There were 72.1 million millennials in the U.S. as of 2019. Millennials represent 43% of homebuyers, the highest share of any any generation.

Millennials are not buying homes as readily as the previous generation. Delaying marriage and having children is keeping many Millennials at home with their parents. Tighter lending criteria can also make homeownership unaffordable or virtually impossible for those without much credit history.

Baby boomers increasingly say they are purchasing a home to live closer to friends and family due to retirement or a desire for a smaller home. Eighteen percent of home buyers ages 68 to 76 say they purchased a multigenerational home, according to the study. They also tend to be drawn to newer homes.

Baby boomers are typically more traditional than millennials in terms of lifestyle. They are more likely to be homeowners and to live in traditional nuclear families. On the other hand, millennials are more likely to put off getting married and having kids later in life.

Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation's largest living adult generation, according to population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Baby Boomers represent the 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964. They were born during the post World War II baby boom. They rejected and redefined traditional values. They are also the wealthiest, most active and have the most disposable income for food, apparel and retirement programs.

Millennials overtook baby boomers as America's largest generation in 2020, according to Pew Research.

According to two US studies, millennial spending sits at just over $65 billion – whilst Generation Z is at almost $100 billion. And that's before you even factor in the influence that the youngest Generation Z members have on their Generation X parents.

What do millennials want in housing? ›

The majority of millennials likely grew up with smart technology and are looking for homes that come with smart features such as smart locks, home security, automatic lighting, and Nest thermostats. They want to be able to control their heating and cooling system, as well as appliances, with an app. Updated kitchen.

A survey from Bank of America shows that 67% of millennials – also known as Gen Y – are “likely” to buy a house in the next two years. Gen Z, which tops out at age 25, is set on it, too. In fact, nearly 9 in 10 say they'd like to own a home in the future.

Millennials, aged 27 to 42, make up the biggest group citing affordability as one of the key issues that's preventing them from buying a home. Older millennials, between 34 and 42, were the biggest group that cited the inability to afford the down payment or closing costs as a major reason why they don't own a home.

Their higher net worth is expected: with most baby boomers financially planning for at least a few more decades, they benefit from wealth earned from long careers and have more robust retirement accounts than the silent generation, who have dipped further into retirement savings.

Millennials are a difficult generation to market to due to the fact that they do not respond well to traditional marketing strategies or tactics. In order to seize this opportunity, it's crucial to understand what makes this audience unique before trying to reach them through typical marketing tactics.

The top 5 Baby Boomer values include hard work, individualism, optimism, family, and consumerism. These values were instilled in them during a time of significant social change, economic prosperity, and technological advancement.

Baby Boomers value individuality and youth and are self-absorbed. Baby Boomers were born between 1943 and 1964.

Boomers purchased 39% of all homes that sold during that span, up from 29% the year before. Millennials, on the other hand, saw their share of the market shrink to just 28%, down from 43% the year prior.

The term “Silent Generation” was first documented in a 1951 Time magazine article, which claimed that the most startling fact about this generation was its silence: “By comparison with the Flaming Youth of their fathers and mothers, today's younger generation is a still, small flame.” The generation's “silent” behavior ...

Flexibility and Multitasking. As already mentioned, the Millennial Generation is able to accept different cultures. Hence, flexibility means that Millennials are able to work with new people, places, and situations. Although they do not expect to change, they are ready to accommodate to new things and people.

What is the most successful generation? ›

The Greatest Generation is a term used to describe those Americans who grew up during the Great Depression and fought in World War II, or whose labor helped win it. The term "the Greatest Generation" is thought to have been coined by former NBC Nightly News anchor and author Tom Brokaw in his book by the same name.

A combination of factors produced this baby boom: soldiers returning home from the war were weary of adventure and wished to settle down into family life with their sweethearts, and GI Bill benefits promised the decent pay, access to good jobs, and affordable housing that made raising a family possible.

Results. There was no significant difference between cohorts in the number of self-reported chronic conditions and chronic symptoms as well as the presence of difficulty in basic activities of daily living, depressive symptoms, fear of disease and negative self-perception of ageing.

The term "generation gap" was first used in the 1960s. 1 During that time, the baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, were growing apart from their parents in their beliefs and opinions.

Baby Boomers again opened the door for social change by fighting for women's rights, gay rights, civil rights, and social equality.

The core values of Baby Boomers include optimism, team orientation, personal gratification, health and wellness, personal growth, youthfulness, work, and involvement. When a workplace environment supports their values Baby Boomers are more satisfied with their jobs.

Baby boomers (born 1946 to 1964), still own the most homes, about 32 million, but lost around 350,000 homeowners during the same time period. Gen Z (born 1997 to 2013) made the smallest gains in homeownership over five years, just 1.6 million, for a total of about 2 million homeowner households.

Millennials overtook baby boomers as America's largest generation in 2020, according to Pew Research.

The real challenges of caring for the elderly in 2030 will involve: (1) making sure society develops payment and insurance systems for long-term care that work better than existing ones, (2) taking advantage of advances in medicine and behavioral health to keep the elderly as healthy and active as possible, (3) ...

Are millennials the best at saving? ›

Even though both generations value saving money, Gen Z is far ahead of millennials in terms of how much they're putting away. According to Finder's Consumer Confidence Index, Gen Z saves an average of $857 per month, while millennials save $294.

Boomers — the oldest generation surveyed, born from 1946 through 1964 — gave the biggest gifts to charity, contributing an average of $2,921 in 2016 and $2,568 in 2022. Millennials, born from 1981 through 1996, were the second-most generous, and Gen X households ranked third.

Understandably, the first few items on the list include essentials like food, water, and WiFi (yes, internet access is an essential to these generations) but many Gen Z and Millennials say they couldn't live without their family. Their loved ones rank above entertainment, being able to go out, and even… toilet paper.

Sky-high rent is why 39% of the millennials who moved back in with their parents last year did so, per a survey by PropertyManagement.com. More than half said they boomeranged back home to save more money. It's proof that living at home with parents can be financially beneficial.

For millennials, it is important to find a home in a safe neighborhood where they can be part of the community. This may be why they prefer homes in subdivisions or tracts. They seek a location with good schools and a short commute to work.

In 2022, the average age of first-time homebuyers was 36, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is up from 33 in 2021.

Most millennials believe property provides a better return than the stock market. Many of them were looking for their first job during the 2008 recession and had trouble finding work. After this experience, they became skeptical about purchasing stock.

Key Takeaways

Technology plays a big part in millennial house-hunting, with this generation turning to mobile devices to search, view properties, and communicate with real estate agents. With fewer starter homes available, millennials are increasingly buying nicer first homes than previous generations did.

71% of millennials can afford less than half of the homes on the market⁵. Utah has the highest share of millennial homeowners at 59%, while California has the lowest share at 30%¹¹.

Millennials make up the largest share of potential homebuyers in San Jose, Calif., Denver and Boston. In San Jose, 63.57% of mortgages were offered to millennials. In Denver and Boston, the figures were 61.35% and 60.59%, respectively.

What percentage of millennials own a house? ›

Census Bureau data shows that 52% of American millennials age 27 to 42 now own homes.

Millennials are expected to hold five times as much wealth as they do today by 2030, when they're estimated to inherit over $68 trillion from boomers. The massive wealth inherited by millennials will decrease inequality between the generations in the U.S. but will likely worsen it overall, experts told Newsweek.

Approximately 7 million older people will be living without sufficient income to meet housing, utilities, food, and medical needs. Many more baby boomers may fall into the poverty category in the 2020s because of insufficient retirement planning.

The agency reports based on data from the 2019 Survey of Income and Program Participation, baby boomers had a median wealth of $90,060 compared to that of millennials whom had a median wealth of $48,070. These totals did not include any home equity.

Baby boomers beat out millennials as the largest share of buyers last year. Baby boomers made up the largest share of homebuyers last year at 39 percent, according to a recent report from the NAR.

The peak years were 1957 and 1961 with 4.3 million births a year. In all, these years produced about 76 million Baby Boomers. The official retirement age to receive a Social Security check is 62. At 65, you'll automatically receive Medicare which covers basic health care at 80 percent.

In 2022, 30% of 25-year-olds owned their own home, higher than the 27% rate for Gen Xers (those ages 42-57) when they were 25, and slightly behind the 32% homeownership rate for baby boomers (those ages 58-76) when they were 25.

How will baby boomers dying affect the housing market? ›

Aging baby boomers leaving their existing homes either through downsizing or death will have minimal impact on housing inventory and prices over the next decade and beyond, a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Research Institute for Housing America found.

For the first time, more than half of millennials own a home. The rest are finding it increasingly out of reach. The millennial homeownership rate hit 51.5% in 2022, US Census data show.

What are the biggest generations in the US by population? According to population projections from the US Census Bureau, millennials (born 1981-1996) make up the largest population group in the US in 2023, followed by baby boomers (1946-1964), Gen Z (1997-2012), and Gen X (1965-1980), respectively.

“A monthly mortgage payment is often considered a forced savings account that helps homeowners build a net worth about 40 times higher than that of a renter.” Along with these wealth gains, homeowners also saw their debt drop by 21% over the last decade, the report shows.

The majority of Millennials are now homeowners, with 52% of the generation owning a home. The generation added 7 million homeowners from 2017 to 2022, for a total of 18.2 million Millennial homeowners by the end of last year.

Leading apartment owners in the U.S. 2022, by units owned

Starwood Capital Group, which was the largest owner in 2022 with 115,000 units, is a private investment firm headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Baby Boomer stereotypes

A common stereotype regarding Baby Boomers is that they're fear-driven, which experts believe could be due to having childhoods so close to the war era. They're also commonly referred to as “stubborn” and resistant to any sort of change.

The Greatest Generation commonly refers to those Americans who were born in the 1900s through the 1920s. The Greatest Generation members all lived through the Great Depression and many of them fought in World War II. These individuals have often been described as driven, patriotic, and team-players.

Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial, and anyone born from 1997 onward is part of a new generation.