Philly-Area Millennials: The Housing Recovery Is Not for You


According to data analyzed and published by USA Today, the home ownership rate for people aged 25 to 34 in the Philadelphia metro area dropped 9 percentage points between 2006 and 2011. In 2006, the rate of homeownership among that group was 49.8%. In 2011 it was 40.9%.

In 2013, the trend continues, threatening the housing recovery overall. The reasons are high student loan debt, low-paying jobs and a lack of available housing inventory. Bidding can also get competitive when older, more solvent bidders can put a payment down in cash.

But young homebuyers are important to the market, and the market is important to them; owning a home is a way of acquiring capital and building a financial profile that will serve them in the future.

Philadelphia’s percentage decline is by no means the most extreme, but it is statistically significant.

Housing recovery leaves Millennials behind [USA Today]