The number to watch when it comes to Millennials is the sheer amount of them. There are approximately 92 million, with the biggest age bucket sitting at 24.
That’s a lot of resting potential for the housing market.
During the Goldman Sachs 2016 Housing Finance Conference, Hui Shan, vice president of credit strategy research with Goldman Sachs, was asked during the Q&A sessions, “Are Millennials ever going to buy houses?”
Unlike a lot of reports out there on how this young generation does eventually, hopefully this year, want homes, Shan explains why housing will be okay.
“The key takeaway is the quantity prompts the quality,” answered Shan.
Yes, she noted that there is a lot of talk surrounding their growing debt, living with their parents, failing to get a job and choosing to not get married and so on and so forth.
But it’s quantity versus quality.
All these things impact the exact quality of the Millennials.
And she said, “They probably have lower housing demand compared to parents.”
But the quantity is so enormous it offsets this, she explained.
“For each individual, their net demand is lower,” she said, “But on a macro housing level, the quantity will make up for that decline in quality.”
