The millennial effect: Young home-buyers in no rush

Millennial home buyers Ryan Particelli and Jennifer Bayard Particelli pose with their dog, Chevy, in front of their home on Mead Avenue in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich, Conn. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. Millennial home buyers Ryan Particelli and Jennifer Bayard Particelli pose with their dog, Chevy, in front of their home on Mead Avenue in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich, Conn. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 39 Caption Close The millennial effect: Young home-buyers in no rush 1 / 39 Back to Gallery

Millennials are changing the landscape of home buying.

Jennifer Bayard and her husband, Ryan, bought their first home in Greenwich, a cozy spot near the water in Cos Cob, a few years ago. Before making the leap to the suburbs, they both rented for a few years and eventually bought their Manhattan apartments.

They decided to move after spending the majority of their free time in Greenwich with family and friends. They’re now “happy to have the traditional space,” Jennifer Bayard said.

But their story in not the norm for the majority of millennials, the age range that includes people from 18 to 35, according to the Pew Research Center.

Instead, young people are renting longer before investing in buying any sort of property and they’re putting off buying a suburban home longer than generations before them, according to long-term data published by Zillow.

Transforming the American dream

The classic American dream of owning a home, getting married and raising a family does not hold true with many millennials, said Rachel Halas, with Matt Rose Realty Group in Danbury.

Millennials aren’t buying single-family homes, she said. “They are looking more at townhouses or urban apartments. They want to come and go freely and not be bound by chores such as mowing the lawn or raking leaves. They want their time to truly be their time.”

Many dislike long-term commitments, so renting fits into their preferred lifestyle, Katsiaryna Salavei Bardos, Fairfield University Associate Professor of Finance, said.

“A lot of millennials are not willing to sacrifice the money for a home — they’d rather spend it on travel and entertainment,” she said. “Millennials like to live in the moment and renting better allows them to do that.”

Other factors also contribute to their buying habits, Bardos said, including the enormous amounts that many millennials owe in student loans. Debt prevents many from considering purchasing a home, she said.

Waiting longer to get married and their recollections of the housing market bubble contribute to the trends, too.

“After the 2008 crash, people are not looking at real estate as an investment vehicle,” said Cynthia De Riemer, a Greenwich realtor with Coldwell Banker. “Millennials lived through that downsizing, so they’re worried. They’re still purchasing, but they’re more cautious about it.”

Savvy home-buyers

This cautiousness leads them to conduct extensive research before making a decision, realtors across southwestern Connecticut said.

“This group of millennials is very different,” said Linda Sentementes, a Stamford realtor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty. “They’re coming in very knowledgeable about the market. They’ve researched homes and know about the neighborhood. As an agent, you have to be very savvy and understand the market yourself so you can explain why one house sold for more than another.”

Millennials tend to catch a lot of flack, numerous realtors said, but they make smart, informed decisions when it comes to home-buying.

“They’re definitely a smart group of people,” said Mela Veltri Case, an agent with Keller Williams Realty. “They know what they’re looking for.”

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ latest Homeowner Sentiment Survey found that 37 percent of millennial renters surveyed indicated they would buy a home when they found a “dream home,” which the real estate company said could point to a disinterest in the concept of a “starter home.”

Long-term impacts on the housing market

Millennials may drag their feet on entering the market, but they still comprise the largest portion of first-time home buyers, according to a recent study by the National Association of Realtors. This means their preferences stand to have a profound impact on the housing market.

One of these effects is that, by and large, they want turn-key homes.

“They don’t want to spend their time on the weekend fixing up the house” said Sentementes, the Sotheby’s realtor. “They want to enjoy their weekends and their families.”

Millennials are still on the cusp of the overall home-buying age bracket, so their influence will continue to materialize, Fairfield’s Bardos said.

“It will take a few years to see their full impact on markets like Connecticut,” she said.

Chris Bosak, Keila Torres Ocasio, Paul Schott and Alexander Soule contributed to this article.

MBennett@hearstmediact.com, 203-625-4411; Twitter @Macaela_