In the past, American have considered many factors when deciding to purchase a home, including location, cost, mortgage payments, size of family, and even sustainability. New polling indicates that millennial homebuyers have a new priority when buying a home – and that priority is dogs.
In a new survey conducted by SunTrust Mortgage, one-in-three millennials who have purchased a home reported being more influenced by having the space and environment for a dog, rather than by marriage or having room for children. The only factors that ranked above dogs were a desire for larger space and a chance to build up equity.
Of the millennials surveyed who have yet to purchase a home, 42 percent said that their current dog, or plans to get one in the future, would be a factor in deciding which home to purchase.
Millennial homebuyers in the United States have faced a homeownership crisis that has worsened with the rising costs and tax penalties imposed by Obamacare. Recent data also indicates that millennials spend generously on temporary housing like apartments in cities with a high cost of living, which prevents them from saving for a home, building equity, and planning for retirement.
There is good news for millennials looking to become homebuyers under the Trump Administration. In a recent speech to the National Housing Symposium, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson declared that millennial home ownership was quickly becoming a “lost dream,” but pledged to fix the problem.
“I worry that millennials may become a lost generation for homeownership,” said Carson. “We must find a reasonable, prudent path to link millennials with investors and lenders – and the housing market itself.”
Under Dr. Carson’s leadership, the organization Fannie Mae will be raising the acceptable debt-to-income (DTI) ratio for private borrowers from 45 percent to 50 percent by the end of July 2017. This action will enable private banks to issue additional loans to millennials who may want to purchase a home, but are burdened by staggering student debt from college.
With the barrier to home ownership lowering, you can expect millennials to be home shopping – and puppy shopping – very soon.
