The “American Dream” of home ownership is not a dream that
“Millennials” are embracing as readily as their “Boomer” parents did.
This group was maturing smack dab in the middle of the
“mortgage meltdown”. They witnessed and
very possibly lived through family trauma and, as a result, may not view a home
as the cornerstone of family investment nor as a relatively liquid asset.
Many experienced dramatic financial hardship in their
immediate family, as their parents accepted transfers by their employers, were
unable to sell their homes, temporarily rented in the new community, drained
their cash assets while attempting to keep up both payments and eventually lost
their former home, while finding themselves unable to purchase another home,
due to credit destruction. Many suffered
this catastrophic financial setback
which then initiated a reduced standard of living.
Remember, for every one of the tens of thousands of
foreclosures, there was a family eliminated from the housing market and, very
possibly, a Millennial who shared their family’s “American Nightmare”.
It is no wonder Millennials became gun shy about home
ownership and do not appear to aspire to the prospect as enthusiastically as
did their forbearers.
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