Silver tsunami of available homes and surging millennial demand

[Tom De Napoli]

According to a data by Zillow and reported on by the Wall Street Journal, one in eight owner-occupied homes, are set to hit the market between 2017 and 2027 as Baby Boomers begin to pass away or move on from their homes in larger numbers. This will result in two million more homes available this decade than last. By 2037 the available homes will total 21 million, which is twice the number of new homes added during the housing boom in the first decade of the 2000s. Most of these available homes will be concentrated in Arizona, Florida, and the Rust Belt, with more limited impacts on the coasts. Zillow also projects that between 2019 and 2028 there will be 7.4 percent more people turning age 34, the median age for a first-time home buyer, than in the previous ten year period. While this demand may be poised to take up the additional new supply, millennial demand may not align with the price point and areas that will see the sharpest rise in the supply of available homes. In addition new home construction is lagging historical levels, reducing new supply.