June 19, 2019
What Generation X Looks for in a Housing Market
On the national stage, Generation X was surpassed in number of mortgages by the Millennial generation back in January of 2017. And they fell behind the Millennials in number of loan originations by dollar in November 2018. But the thing is—these two generations are apparently favoring different markets for buying homes, in part because Gen Xers make larger down payments (11.9 percent versus the Millennial average of 8.8 percent) and buy homes that are more expensive than do the younger cohort, and in part because of Gen X’s relatively smaller population. This according to the latest Generational Propensity Report released by Realtor.com.
At the end of 2018, the median purchase price on a home made by Gen Xers (defined by the report to be those born between 1965 and 1981, and who are in their peak years of income generation) was $289,000, while the median purchase price paid by Millennials (born between 1982 and 2000) was only $238,000.
The report also put forth a generational “score” for geographic markets—calculated by comparing the “current share of mortgages issued to each generation and the change in that generation’s share of the market from last year.”
The top ten markets for this set by score: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (score: 0.98); our service area of Providence-Warwick, RI-MA (0.92); Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT (0.89); our service area of Jacksonville, FL (0.83); Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA (0.8); Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (0.79); our service area of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (0.76); Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (0.72); Rochester, NY (0.72); and Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV (0.71).
For Generation X, the report determined that these top markets are mixed in their characteristics: they favor both “secondary home markets and strong-employment markets.” Five of their ten top markets have an unemployment rate higher than the national average of 3.7 percent (those being Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Rochester, Bridgeport, and Providence), while the other five (Dallas, Atlanta, Washington DC, Tampa, and Jacksonville) fall below this rate. Among these, the highest secondary home mortgage originations are in the Jacksonville, Tampa, and Las Vegas areas.
If you’re a Gen Xer shopping around for a home in Jacksonville or Tampa, Florida; or the area around Providence, Rhode Island and Warwick, Massachusetts, contact us to see how we can help ensure proper transfer of title and provide title insurance. Topouzis & Associates, P.C., is backed by multiple underwriters, staffed by residential real estate specialists and ready to help you avoid costly delays and streamline your residential transactions.
