Millennials Secure Homeownership Through Pandemic Savings

A recent DSnews report highlights how pandemic savings helped some Americans secure homeownership. With the current housing market, purchasing a home is challenging for most Americans. However, some millennials were able to maintain employment during the pandemic, save money, and purchase a home. Redfin surveyed roughly 1,500 Americans that are planning to buy or sell a home within the next year. The survey found that nearly one-third of millennial first-time buyers were able to accumulate money during the pandemic to afford a down payment. 48% of respondents reported saving money from paychecks as their method of saving. 31% responded that they were able to save extra money during the pandemic. Other methods included cash gifts from family, working a second job, and selling stock investments. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal savings rates increased to 33.7% in April 2020. Personal savings rate is calculated by tracking the percentage of disposable income saved in any given month. Data has shown that the rate has remained fairly consistent over the past year.

WHAT ELSE DID THE REPORT FIND?

In addition, Redfin reported that while COVID encouraged many homeowners to relocate, it also motivated many to stay put. The report discovered that 37% of respondents are waiting to purchase a home and 32% are buying a home sooner than planned. Redfin explains that remote workers desire homes with more space or want to move to a different area. However, low inventory and increased prices have discouraged buyers and led them to pause their home search. Steven Majourau, an agent in Stockton, Tracy and other parts of California’s Central Valley, stated “Roughly half of my clients are people moving to the Central Valley from the Bay Area because they want to live in a bigger home for less money, and a lot of them only need to commute into the city once or twice a week, if that. They’re selling a large condo or townhouse for close to $1 million—or a small single-family home for more than $1 million—in San Francisco, San Jose, or the East Bay and buying a large house here in the Central Valley for around $700,000”.

Click here to read the full DSnews report.

Click here to read the full Redfin report and learn more!