Home Envy ‘Rampant’ Among Younger GenerationsBy RISMedia Staff
A survey, conducted by tech services company Mphasis Digital Risk, found that “home envy” is stronger among generations Z and Y. The survey shows responses from 1,386 Americans aged 46 or younger across the spectrum from lower to upper middle income. 74% percent of respondents indicated they currently own a home; the same percentage agreed that owning a home is “part of the American dream.”
Key findings:
“For the 80% of Gen Z and millennials stressed by viewing home prices of friends and acquaintances online, they should remember that lenders don’t benchmark borrowers against others to qualify for a home loan,” said Jeff Taylor, founder and managing director of Mphasis Digital Risk. “They use the borrower’s profile, and you would be surprised how much a borrower can afford. Even with interest rates entering the Summer of 2023 higher at near 7%, millions of people qualify to buy median-priced homes with as little as 5% down.” “It’s surprising to see that 62% of younger Americans call for lower consumer protection rules and restrictions on lenders,” added Taylor. “These rules were put in place after the Great Financial Crisis–which was caused by overly loose lending guidelines–to protect borrowers from getting into loans where the costs are low to start, then ballooned later. But, first time buyers should definitely talk to their local lender, because there are many specialty loan and down payment assistance programs that can help them in their community. These great Federal, state, and local programs never make headlines, but they exist and your local lender knows about them.” On the topic of HELOCs, he added: “Home appreciation in recent years has given an overall wealth lift to homeowners, and responsibly tapping into this new equity is a good option for homeowners. This kind of loan has lower rates than personal loans or credit cards, but borrowers should remember that interest on one’s home equity loan is not tax deductible like it is on your first mortgage, unless you use the home equity loan funds for home improvement.” For more information, visit https://digitalrisk.mphasis.com/home.html. |
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