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Welcome to the ‘nepo’ housing market: 40% of homebuyers under 30 get family money to cover their down payment
(archive.ph)
Definitely a trend I see around me (Europe, 30 years old).
All of my friends able to buy got at least 30k - 50k from their parents.
Is it the same around you? How do you deal with this?
Also, some data from a few days back:
https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/2426785?scrollToComments=true
I'm a nepo buyer ✋
My American Boomer parents view helping my sister and I out with things like this as a legal early inheritance transfer to make up for how long we expect their lives to go on. In that way, this isn't really different from being able to buy things because you received an actual inheritance after your parents died.
The problem isn't the people who are able to do this. The problem is that other people for generations have been systematically robbed from also being able to do this. We should have government programs to provide this service for those people to make up for that generational theft.
Also: Jesus, Canada, build some fucking housing what the fuck. I knew it was bad, but I assumed it was on par with the US.
This graph is cherry picked from the worst of Canadian sectors and the best of American. Still in general Canadian housing is bad. The problem isn't about building houses. Everyone wants to live within 30 miles of the border. All our farm land and natural green space is in the same location. So what would you do? Which would you have us do? Bulldoze farm land, or bulldoze protected green space that is already threatened? If it was as easy as "build houses" we could have done that. We have more than enough houses/accommodation for everyone. But much of the available supply is bought up by people that have more money than the people that need the housing. Add in foreign investment, corporations, speculation and pent up demand.... Well here we are.
I mean, the same could be said for the larger regional areas of the US surrounding the cities that are experiencing the fastest increase in housing prices. But the problem, like you said, is people want to live in a small area that is already occupied, and not always where the available houses are (when they're available and not being hoarded by "investors")
I know that here in the Boston area what we need is more housING but not more housES. Build up, not out. And make vertical housing actually appealing by building walkable neighborhoods with access to good public transit so cars aren't a necessity.
It's a big change but not an impossible one
Yeah that would be nice. No one wants to live in apartments here because they are usually in the city. If you we've to raise a family, it's not easy in a city.
Then build fucking apartments instead, damn it!
IDK, the student loans program in the US didn't work out very well, and a lot of people just ended up with a ton of debt they couldn't handle. I'm worried the same would happen with a federal housing loan.
What we need instead is better housing density. Right now, if you want to buy a property (at least in the US), you need to also buy a car and commute long distances because that's the only way you're going to be able to afford a place at all. If we instead built more mixed housing near transit lines (e.g. business at ground level and a purchasable apartment above it), you could own something and not need a car to get around. That would work for the first few years, and if you decide to grow your family, you could use your equity as a down payment on a larger place.
But we really don't have much in the way of a starter home. In my area, $300k is "cheap," and with loans now around 7%, you're going to need a larger down payment to keep mortgage payments reasonable. Most new construction around here is either luxury apartments or high end housing.
Unfortunately, zoning laws don't allow this in most US cities
Right, so the focus should be on fixing zoning laws, not on trying to get people into needlessly expensive homes.
Not a loan. A cash grant for a down payment. Government money if you don't have wealthy parents like mine.
But also mixed use housing.
The Downpayment Toward Equity Act (currently still in Congress, but already budgeted for) is meant to address the generational wealth gap you described, so there is hope. It would give a $25,000 grant to first-generation first-time home buyers.
I don't think anyone should be ashamed of getting help from parents for buying a home. As you said, it is essentially an advance on one's inheritance. Nepotism is favoritism for something intended to be merit-based.