More Americans waiting to buy a home today than in 1970s: report

One part of the American Dream is to own a home. This has been the goal of people all over the United States since its foundation. But a new report suggests that more Americans are delaying this element of the Dream because of economic conditions and lifestyle choices.

According to new data from Zillow, a real estate firm, Americans now reach the age of 33 before they own a home. This is up from the age of 29 during the late 1970s. Moreover, more people are renting longer as the median amount of years renting an apartment is about six, also a one-third increase from the late 1970s.

Financial and real estate experts say that there are numerous deterrents for Americans sitting on the real estate sidelines. Some of these consist of astronomical student loan debt, the rising cost of energy and medical care prince inflation. It was noted that the cost of college tuition has gone up more than 400 percent since 1970, and 112 percent since the year 2000.

“Most young Americans should realize that homeownership is within reach,” said Kelly Hager, CEO of Kelly Hager Group Real Estate Services in Missouri. “However, it’s often a matter of rising non-housing expenses and evolving societal norms that keeps them from purchasing their first home.”

In addition, a lot of millennials are preferring life experiences as opposed to material ownership. Others also say that it comes with tremendous risk when owning a home, and since millennials saw their parents suffer financially during the dot-com crash and the subprime mortgage meltdown, they don’t want to get into the same boat.

“Emotionally, many millennials view homeownership as a huge risk,” said Brian Koss, executive vice president of Mortgage Network, in a statement. “Because they saw family members deeply affected by the housing crisis, the American Dream is not only unattractive to many, but seems like a nightmare.”

The latest consumer price index (CPI) data suggest that shelter costs jumped 0.4 percent in August, but overall housing expenses climbed 3.1 percent in the past 12 months, which is the biggest increase since 2008.