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[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

In a shocking turn of events, millennials aren't to blame for something in the world. Enjoy your avocado toast my friends, it was the Baby Boomers fault we can't afford houses all along!

Competition for housing is soaring, affordability is weakening and the U.S. housing recovery is grinding to a crawl — and, in large part, the baby boom generation is to blame.

No, they're not doing anything immoral or illegal; in fact, they're not doing anything at all, and that is precisely the problem. They're not moving.

Baby boomers, the enormous group born between 1946 and 1964, are staying in their big suburban homes far longer than previous generations did at this age, and that is having repercussions down the housing supply line. If baby boomers don't downsize out of big suburban homes, younger buyers eager to upsize, especially in this improving economy, can't find a home to buy.

More at link:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/21/housing-recovery-suffers-but-dont-blame-the-millennials.html

 

[Transistor]

Add that to the long list of things that boomers blame millennials for, but it's actually their fault

 

[hydrophilic attack]

who wants a big fucking house in the suburbs anyway

takes way too long to keep clean

 

[Princess Carl]

Add that to the long list of things that boomers blame millennials for, but it's actually their fault

Pretty much completely too. Fucking unaware, ignorant, rude, baby-boomers.

 

[Entropia]

I am not surprised at this.

But, at the same time - I agree with that view point of not moving. Circumstances and such excluded, I don't want a "starter home". I want something that is nice, modest and I plan to basically never have to sell or move out of.

 

[Anth0ny]

young buyers eager to upsize?


mother fucker condos are $500k in Toronto on average


most young people can't afford to buy period, let alone upsize.

 

[Entropia]

young buyers eager to upsize?


mother fucker condos are $500k in Toronto on average


most young people can't afford to buy period, let alone upsize.

It's a trickle down. You can't get your foot in the door because everyone else is trying to because those who were in in the first place can't vacate out of their condo.

 

[Patryn]

young buyers eager to upsize?


mother fucker condos are $500k in Toronto on average


most young people can't afford to buy period, let alone upsize.

This is why that condo is $500k. Because people can't find bigger houses as they're not on the market, so the entry-level market is flooded with buyers and not a ton of sellers, so prices are getting ridiculous.

 

[Dingens]

I'm really starting to dislike these oversimplified categorisations and especially the termn "millenials" (no matter who's turn it is to fuck up the planet for this week)

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

young buyers eager to upsize?


mother fucker condos are $500k in Toronto on average


most young people can't afford to buy period, let alone upsize.

I don't think you're reading the article. Yes, as your family grows you want to upsize, Millennials currently can't do that because it's too expensive. It's too expensive due to low supply from baby boomers not moving into smaller houses that better suit their needs and sell the larger houses to new families that want them.

 

[Davey Cakes]

who wants a big fucking house in the suburbs anyway

takes way too long to keep clean

Seriously, in this day and age with so much to keep us occupied, why would we even want all that space? There's too much maintenance required to be worth it.

 

[nekkid]

Listen, I'm the first one to accuse boomers of fucking us younger generation over.

But I'll be damned if anyone is going to make me feel guilty for wanting to stay in my own home, no matter how big.

 

[Fenderputty]

Why would you downsize your expanding asset? You try and sell on the high, not on the upswing.

Boomers are also retiring later.

Rental prices are high and investors are keeping prices inflated.

A lack of housing in many instances is also a reason prices are high as this drives rental as well as purchase price.

Article just feel kinda click baity.

 

[Somnid]

Much like "Baby Boomers aren't retiring so Millennials can't move up" this is a really stupid take because if that was required the system is broken. They need more housing, especially cheap housing. If Baby Boomers are responsible for anything it's draconian land use laws.

 

[nampad]

Crazy that the rate of baby boomers downsizing is low.
My parents selling our old home sucked but it was the best decision for everyone. They don't have to bother keeping a big house clean and in shape and can use the money for their retirement.

 

[Byakuya769]

Lol. Know of quite of few homes In this situation in my neighborhood. Either an elderly couple sitting on a massive home or someone who is trying to sell their home but won't list it for a reasonable price (basically "make me move" even though I live in this large home alone...").

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Why would you downsize your expanding asset? You try and sell on the high, not on the upswing.

Boomers are also retiring later.

Rental prices are high and investors are keeping prices inflated.

A lack of housing in many instances is also a reason prices are high as this drives rental as well as purchase price.

Article just feel kinda click baity.

Same feeling I had. It feels like another way to stir up millenials vs boomers debate.

 

[djplaeskool]

This is way too complex to simply say, "lol boomers"
It's honestly a pretty dumb hot take.
I mean, who is going to approach people and say, " Dear sir or madam in your 60s or 70s, please surrender your home and move in with relatives or an old folks home so young people can buy this real estate."
People are living longer, they're working longer, they're active longer, retiring later, and by default will want to live independently longer.

I think part of the problem is the recession having violently put the brakes on housing starts has reduced inventory and is now spiking demand. Demand spikes price, and a lot of young buyers are effectively priced out of markets that were once affordable even a decade ago. Combine this with what I think will be a very serious lack of construction labor and I don't see this letting up any time soon.

 

[Transistor]

Why would you downsize your expanding asset? You try and sell on the high, not on the upswing.

Boomers are also retiring later.

Rental prices are high and investors are keeping prices inflated.

A lack of housing in many instances is also a reason prices are high as this drives rental as well as purchase price.

Article just feel kinda click baity.

The idea is that, as you get older, you don't need more space and don't want to take care of a large house. Honestly, when I'm older, I'd want to sell my two story for a smaller one story.

 

[Fenderputty]

The idea is that, as you get older, you don't need more space and don't want to take care of a large house. Honestly, when I'm older, I'd want to sell my two story for a smaller one story.

Ohh I got that.

Maybe you missed the part where I suggested that in a market where prices are expanding, you don't just sell because you no longer need space when your equity is growing like mad.

 

[Steejee]

Father wants to downsize but doesn't want to sell for what the assessor said it was worth. Basically a zero percent chance of him ever getting what he wants.

On the flip side, in Boston you see a lot of boomers buying condos/houses for inflated prices, making it impossible for young people who want to stay in the city to afford any reasonable housing. Even crappy places are going fast.

Everything is kinda jacked. Probably would have been nice if previous generations hadn't fought against expanding mass transit as much as they did. They wanted highways and low taxes, and we're reaping that harvest.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

generation x continues to be the perfect generation

/sips beer and looks down on parents and nephews/nieces

 

[Not]

The generation emblematized by Donald Trump handled something incompetently and blames it on everyone but themselves?

Let me sit down.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Ohh I got that.

Maybe you missed the part where I suggested that in a market where prices are expanding, you don't just sell because you no longer need space when your equity is growing like mad.

I mean, if you look at housing historical the process have always been expanding so you're suggesting to never sell? Also, you'll still have another house, it just won't be as big so it's still an appreciating asset, they're not saying they're giving up home ownership.

 

[Oppo]

the boomers are keeping the houses so the millennial kids have somewhere to live until they are 34

*runs from thread*

 

[entremet]

Don’t forget that urban planning is rather a mess. The American Realtor Association also wants to limit stock purposely.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

the boomers are keeping the houses so the millennial kids have somewhere to live until they are 34

*runs from thread*

LMAO, that's what my boss at work replied with when I sent it to him.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

OP missed some quotes that I think bring up question as to why they're not moving:

"I don't know where to go from here because everything is so expensive. I'm stuck," Goldberg said. "It's actually less expensive to stay here and metro into the city than move into the city. So I'm stuck, but I'm in a neighborhood by myself that really I don't belong in."

Like so many other active baby boomers, Goldberg wants to downsize to a home closer to the heart of a metropolitan area. Prices in downtown Washington, D.C., are hitting new record highs, and even in the close-in suburbs both rents and prices are cost-prohibitive.

The story is similar in other cities as well. Baby boomers who choose to downsize to apartments are facing huge costs. Just 23 percent of boomers rent, the smallest of any generation, but of those who do, nearly half spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to Abodo, a rental listing company that analyzed data from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing. That is a higher share than both millennials and Gen Xers.

...

"I think the baby boomers are really struggling with the decision to downsize because there's not really great options for them to downsize to," said Brooke Heiberger, a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Bethesda, Maryland. "And for those who are willing to stay in the suburbs there's just not a style of home or viable option to allow them to age in place, so it's just easier to stay where they are in absence of being able to make a good decision."

It's not that they're refusing to move, they're often being priced out of anything they'd be interested to move into.

Not every person who retires wants to move away to Arizona or Florida, some would prefer to remain close to family/grand kids or closer to a metro area. We're also assuming that all these boomers have paid off their mortgages, but could very well be back under water-ish from the last bubble when everyone was taking out HELOC's

 

[Pagusas]

Well I'm doing my part (though I'm not a baby boomer) bought a huge 4 bed/4bath/2 living room home in Dallas 3 years ago, selling it right now and building a smaller home that fits my wife and I better.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

Babyboomers are the worst generation.

Everybody knows this.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Coulda seen this coming.

I grew up in a development that started in the 60s/70s. Every year the amount of "old people" houses grew and it seemed less and less neighborhood houses had kids in them.

I always felt like the town would end up a huge retirement community once the boomers retired and so far it seems to be the case. They're having to redistrict a lot of kids to different high schools because they're running out of kids in areas where smaller houses/apartments are rare. And meanwhile the amount of houses with wild unkempt yards likely inhabited by the elderly continues to expand.

 

[Fenderputty]

I mean, if you look at housing historical the process have always been expanding so you're suggesting to never sell? Also, you'll still have another house, it just won't be as big so it's still an appreciating asset, they're not saying they're giving up home ownership.

Historical trend lines go up in the stock market too. Are you suggesting nobody ever plays the ebs and flows of that market because it will historically go up in perpetuity too?

Yes you would have another asset that would be increasing. It would just be a smaller one. Like taking out part of your 401K early.

Maybe some people aren't thinking like this, but financial reasons to hold onto an asset have to come into play here as well.

The lack of new housing only compounds all of this.

 

[tbm24]

Even if they did move, affording their homes is nigh impossible in my area of Queens, New York that's far enough from the city I need to take a bus to the subway.

 

[Trouble]

My parents have lived in the house I grew up in since 1977.

They have spend a few hundred grand on renovations in the past few years, so they aren't going anywhere.

 

[Clockwork]

We have a 4 bedroom/3 bath house and to be honest we don't even need this much space. 2 out of the 4 bedrooms are being used for absolutely nothing (except some storage of things we could move elsewhere) and the other bedroom has only been used a few times when family has stayed overnight.

*shrug*

Oh well.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

OP missed some quotes that I think bring up question as to why they're not moving:



It's not that they're refusing to move, they're often being priced out of anything they'd be interested to move into.

Not every person who retires wants to move away to Arizona or Florida, some would prefer to remain close to family/grand kids or closer to a metro area. We're also assuming that all these boomers have paid off their mortgages, but could very well be back under water-ish from the last bubble when everyone was taking out HELOC's

It's definitely a circular issue that is causing a problem for both sides. Both things are too expensive for the other so they're unwilling to swap to better fit their needs.

 

[Hello? This is Hailun!]

Seriously, in this day and age with so much to keep us occupied, why would we even want all that space? There's too much maintenance required to be worth it.

I lived in a one bedroom apartment with another person and two cats for 10 years. I want some space to get the fuck away from everything from time to time.




But yeah, my wife and I plan on selling our big suburban home in 10 years and downsizing. Hopefully we'll make a little money off of it.

If I had to take a wild guess as to why boomers aren't moving it's because areas where there were small houses (close to the city) are way out of whack when it comes to price vs what you get. And no one is building small 1500 square foot homes in the suburbs anymore. Any land that is within a reasonable location of the city is on the expensive side and you're locked into buying a floor plan from a specific vendor.

 

[Not]

the boomers are keeping the houses so the millennial kids have somewhere to live until they are 34

*runs from thread*

Oh yeah huh, I wonder why millennials aren't buying their own houses or even apartments, must be because they're lazy

Balanced point

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Pretty much completely too. Fucking unaware, ignorant, rude, baby-boomers.

Entire generation of narcissists and borderlines.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Historical trend lines go up in the stock market too. Are you suggesting nobody ever plays the ebs and flows of that market because it will historically go up in perpetuity too?

Yes you would have another asset that would be increasing. It would just be a smaller one. Like taking out part of your 401K early.

Maybe some people aren't thinking like this, but financial reasons to hold onto an asset have to come into play here as well.

The lack of new housing only compounds all of this.

Except not? They're saying they won't move because prices are too high. Their new asset is of LARGER value, not smaller like your suggesting. So no, it's nothing like partially redeeming part of your 401k. Size of the house isn't the only thing that affects price like you're suggesting.

 

[FStubbs]

generation x continues to be the perfect generation

/sips beer and looks down on parents and nephews/nieces

Nobody cares about Generation X.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Listen, I'm the first one to accuse boomers of fucking us younger generation over.

But I'll be damned if anyone is going to make me feel guilty for wanting to stay in my own home, no matter how big.

This. My mom worked hard for her home and now she's a piece of shit because she doesn't sell it? FOH.

Buy shit in the hood like everyone else. It'll be cheaper. That's what we did.

Nobody cares about Generation X.

Thank God. I couldn't take millenials turning on me lol.

 

[BoogieWoogie]

My parents own two houses for fuck sake.

 

[ahoyhoy]

This. My mom worked hard for her home and now she's a piece of shit because she doesn't sell it? FOH.

Buy shit in the hood like everyone else. It'll be cheaper. That's what we did.

But wouldn't that be gentrification?

 

[Oppo]

Oh yeah huh, I wonder why millennials aren't buying their own houses or even apartments, must be because they're lazy

Balanced point

Millennials Are Killing Jokes

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

This. My mom worked hard for her home and now she's a piece of shit because she doesn't sell it? FOH.

Buy shit in the hood like everyone else. It'll be cheaper. That's what we did.



Thank God. I couldn't take millenials turning on me lol.

Umm, no one is calling your mom a piece of shit so.... Anger issues much?

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

It's definitely a circular issue that is causing a problem for both sides. Both things are too expensive for the other so they're unwilling to swap to better fit their needs.

Isn't there also recent studies showing some urban/surban flight happening (i forget which order)? So it's also plausible that demand in the either direction many not be benefiting the sellers of the properties.

The person I quoted wants to get into a smaller metro home, but perhaps the demand for larger suburban homes is down and making it difficult to sell at the cost that would be beneficial to the owner.

I just hate this notion of 'us vs them' when it comes to things like housing. Far too many variables to consider as it relates to the housing situation.

 

[Aaron Strife]

This is true for the jobs market, too. If you're a millennial entering the work place, chances are your dream job is filled by a 60-year-old who hasn't updated his methods in 40 years and will be staying put for at least 15 more.

I was considering getting a Master's in Dramaturgy until I found out there are like ten paid dramaturgs in the country and getting a job basically involves waiting for one of them to die.

In my last semester of my bachelor's the head of the department was bragging to us about how he got around his office having a term limit of 3 three-year terms. There's a loophole where he can resign 8 and a half years in, do something else for a semester and be eligible for another nine years and he's been doing this for 30 years. Like gee, thanks chief, who would want fresh blood in a creative environment anyway?

 

[One Eyed Willy]

who wants a big fucking house in the suburbs anyway

takes way too long to keep clean

I purposely bought a big house in the burbs for these reasons. I can host upwards of 50-100 people if needed and I spend about 15 minutes a week cleaning it because I always keep it clean so there is little upkeep. I'm on a 8,000sqft lot too, so lots of yard a pool and other stuff I take care of myself.. and that takes a few hours a week. However, I very much relax when I do the yards or clean my pool.

But you do make a good point, many people don't want the size. But where I live the housing market issue isn't about some mysterious "bubble", its simple supply and demand. There are way more buyers than houses, just like the article states. It is a real issue for sure.

My parents are boomers, but I can't blame them. They bought their home in 1980 for $90,000 and today its worth over $800,000. They paid it off a few years back so they are just sitting on this with no intention of selling. They'll leave it to myself and siblings to sell and split that cash once they're gone. Selling now, downsizing or most other options actually don't make much sense at all. I'm hoping I can do the same one day too, I don't plan on ever moving again.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Umm, no one is calling your mom a piece of shit so.... Anger issues much?

Not angry just saying lol. This your first boomer thread? Cause mofos here shit on them voraciously. Not specific people. An entire generation.