Will Millennials Become Career Renters?

October 17, 2013

Homeownership ain’t what it used to be. Maybe the American dream is shifting to flexibility and freedom from debt.

“I don’t want to take on more debt,” he says. “I don’t want to have another credit check; I don’t want to talk to another set of bankers; and I don’t want to put so much liability on the line.”

That’s a sentiment shared by 24-year-old Ph.D. student Sam Lustgarten with many in the Millennial generation, who are satisfied with renting and are waiting longer and longer to consider homeownership, if they want to consider it all.

It’s probably a bit soon to tell whether or not the current generation of young adults will shun ownership altogether or merely delay it as they are delaying other major life milestones such as marriage and having a family. But it does appear that the recession did, in some way, make an indelible impression on our youth that is likely to have a sustainable impact on the multifamily industry.