Millennial Homebuyers’ Possible Financial Mistake
Buyers' remorse is rampant among millennials who buy a home, and the purchase could damage their financial health, Bank of the West says.
This story was originally published on Think Advisor, a sister publication of GlobeSt.com.
Six in 10 U.S. millennials think the American Dream — owning a home, becoming debt-free and retiring comfortably — is within reach, yet they are doing too little to achieve this goal, according to a new report from Bank of the West. Indeed, millennials’ conservative investment habits may be seriously compromising their dream of an easy retirement.
Having experienced the damaging effects of the recession, millennials have largely sat out the bull market, and instead have turned to real estate as the cornerstone of their investment portfolio, according to the report.
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Fifty-six percent of millennials said homeownership was the main ingredient of their American Dream, followed by 51% who cited paying off debt and 49% who said it was having the financial means to retire comfortably.
But according to Bank of the West, millennials’ desire to own a home is pushing some to risk their other goals by taking on mortgages and even borrowing against their retirement savings — one in four said they were willing to withdraw or borrow against retirement funds to finance down payments for a home.
“Millennials are so eager to become homeowners that some may be inadvertently cutting off their nose to spite their face,” Ryan Bailey, head of the retail banking group at Bank of the West, said in a statement.
This story was originally published on Think Advisor, a sister publication of GlobeSt.com. Click here to read the full article about ambivalence about debt, homeownership and buyer’s remorse and more.