How a Millennial Baby Boom Would Affect Housing

Recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics revealed that 1.3 million Millennial women gave birth to their first child in 2015. Now there are 16 million women in the Millennial generation who have become mothers.

“All told, Millennial women (those born between 1981 to 1997) accounted for about eight in ten (82%) of U.S. births in 2015.”

This generation has waited until later in life to become parents. 42% of Millennial women were moms in 2014, whereas 49% of Generation X were mothers at the same age. Social influences may be contributing to the delay:

“The rising age at first birth is hardly limited to the Millennial generation. It has been a trend since at least 1970. Many factors may contribute, including a shift away from marriage, increasing educational attainment and the movement of women into the labor force.” - Pew Research Center article 

So, What Does This Mean for the Housing Market?

As Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist for realtor.com explained: “At any given time in our history, demographics would explain 60-80% of what’s happening [in the market], and we are in a period of time where Millennials make up [the] largest demographic group.” 

As Millennial families are formed and continue to grow, this generation's focus will shift to how they can settle in family friendly places to live, the best school districts, and to the stability of owning a home.

Two-thirds of the Millennial generation has not yet reach the age of 32, reported by National Association of Realtor as the average age for first time home buyers. Homeownership amongst Millennials has nowhere to go but up!

As a generation, Millennials are waiting to fulfill the societal norms of starting a family and purchasing a home. These things will come in time, for delay does not equal lack of interest.