Century 21 Alliance Group Shares What Millennials Want in a Home

MillenialHouse1The housing market has experienced a roller coaster past few years of challenges and growth before finding stability within the Northwest Indiana region. While baby boomers are looking to downgrade homes into more affordable and appropriately sized homes, millennials are looking to enter the housing market with aspirations of affordability and a modern look. While trends are surely set to change again over the next few years, there are a few options that strike the fancy of millennial home buyers along with a list of pros and cons that come with it.

While there exist homes available to purchase in Valparaiso, according to Real Estate Broker and Owner of Century 21 Alliance Group Jeanne Sommers, many are not taking the plunge in purchasing for one very big reason.

"There are not a lot of young homebuyers, especially in Valparaiso," says Sommers. "This is mainly due to the fact that there are not a lot of available housing options that are affordable for younger buyers. "The average price range is around $196,000 in Porter County while the average price in Valparaiso is $207,000."

Sommers credited this high level of cost as a significant reason why younger potential homeowners are choosing renting as an alternative living option as well as having more information to homes and buying trends thanks to the accessibility of information via the internet and being much more informed about their buying options.

With websites and apps like Pinterest, Etsy, and Houzz, younger home buyers are able to have a preview of the type of home they are looking for as well as what they expect with both interior and exterior options. In many ways, real estate companies are no longer there to make the choices but to validate the choices made for these first-time buyers.

This is in combination with a younger home owner's desire to go smaller, not larger with more of an emphasis on locations close to entertainment and services rather than the house itself. Younger home buyers are also not as interested in what was once considered more "traditional" home embellishments with previous status symbols such as molding no long an important buying factor.

Sommers feel that the way to reach the younger market and to get them buying homes is to not only realize their different tastes and expectations when it comes to a home but also finding a way to provide more affordable prices for homes.

"We absolutely need more affordable housing into the mix," says Sommers. "$207,000 is steep but when looking at other local communities like Portage, the average is only about $141,000."

Sommers also credits the flexibility of younger home buyers as one of the biggest assets in selling homes that are sometimes considered hard sells.

"Older homeowners and families are looking into ranch style homes as well as younger homeowners, they're popular with everyone," says Sommers. "However younger homebuyers are open to more options, this includes 2 stories, bi, and tri-level homes as well."

While new challenges may be present for younger homebuyers in terms of the market and availability, one thing that is on their side are the interest rates being at an all-time low, according to Sommers.

"As long as these rates stay low with a less than 4 percent interest rate, buyers, especially young buyers will have a lot more buying power," says Sommers.

Sommers suggests that young buyers interested in a home talk to their banker, as this is the time to flex the buying power and take advantage of this possibly rare situation.

"I highly suggest that young people talk to their banker because if the rates double there will be much less affordability on their end."