Increasingly, millennials looking to purchase their first home are turning to parents to help with the financing. It’s estimated that 10% of millennial home buying involves a gift or loan from parents or grandparents. Dallas real-estate expert Alex Doubet says there are a couple big factors, affordability highest on the list. The housing crunch has led to a shortage of houses appropriate for first time home buyers, favoring newer and larger construction. “You’ve seen a real run up in house prices here in Texas. It’s been on the order of 50% over the last five years,” says Doubet. Homebuilders are builder more expensive new homes and existing homes tend to be higher. Another big factor, he says, is student loans, the average millennial carrying close to $30,000 in college debt before they even start looking at homes. That increases debt-to-income ratio when applying for a mortgage.
In a national poll conducted by GFK Custom Research North America finds 17% of parents of millennials say they expect to help them buy a home within the next five years, and increase of 31% compared to 2010 poll numbers.