Millennials likelier than baby boomers to buy home before marrying

Mortgage loan officers need to market their services toward the fact millennials are more likely to become homeowners prior to marriage than baby boomers were.

Nearly half of those between the ages of 22 and 38 that were married said they and/or their spouse purchased a property before they got hitched, compared to 35% of baby boomers, those between the ages of 55 and 73, according to a Harris Poll survey for SunTrust.

"People are choosing from many different paths and reaching common life milestones at a wider age span than before, changing when they decide to purchase a home," Sherry Graziano, mortgage transformation officer at SunTrust, said in a press release.

Because of the shift, both people are entering into marriage owing a home. But rather than having to make an either/or decision, a significant portion of those surveyed who are not currently married, 25% of women and 21% of men, said they would look to sell both properties and instead purchase a new one.

Single women made up a larger share of homebuyers at 18%, than their male counterparts, at just 9% in the period from July 2017 to June 2018, a National Association of Realtors study said. However, most of the single women purchasers were in the older cohorts, NAR added.

Lower mortgage rates for most of this year increased home purchase activity among younger buyers, Ellie Mae's Millennial Tracker data for April found. In that month, 47% of millennial buyers were single, Ellie Mae said.

When it came to buying their first home, millennials were more likely than Gen Xers or baby boomers to cite proximity to work as one of the primary motivators when it came to location, 29% versus 18% and 18%, respectively.

The same was true for when it came to proximity to schools: 20% for millennials compared with 12% for Gen Xers and 10% for baby boomers. It was also the case for leisure activities: 16% of those between 22 and 38 called it a motivating factor, while just 8% for both those between 39 and 54 and those between 55 and 73 said it played a role in deciding where to purchase a home.