Most Millennials Living with Roommates Would Rather Live Alone, Study Says

• June 24th 2015

by Tianna Mañón

About half of millennials are renters, according to a study from the Urban Land Institute (ULI), in part because they’re finding purchasing a home a tough pill to swallow. And just 26 percent own their homes, the study found, with most of those between the ages of 31 and 36. The rest generally live with older family members or in student or military housing.

Those were some of the conclusions of a recent housing study from ULI that looked at millennials or Generation Y, which includes individuals aged 19-36. ULI researchers discussed the study in a webcast conversation on Tuesday.

Of those, 27 percent are renting and living with roommates, and about 58 percent of those individuals wish they lived alone, according to ULI’s study. (Still, 46 percent admitted living with roommates was fun.) Mostly, though, millennials rent in order to “live in larger or nicer units” and because they can’t afford to live alone; 53 percent of those surveyed by ULI were making less than $50,000 a year.

“They’re willing to trade privacy for what’s outside their doors,” said Maya Brennan, the vice president of housing at the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing, in the chat. As for why they’re not buying? “They’re thinking about, ‘Can I qualify for homeownership?’ At first it seems more expensive. It’s hard to get a loan.”

The study found that millennials are choosing renting over buying for a variety of reasons. The age group likes to move around and enjoys location flexibility — the majority of respondents had lived in their current rental for under six months — and they appreciate the ease of having a building’s management take care of repairs and unit maintenance. Others said they weren’t credit-worthy enough to buy a house or expressed concerns about job security.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/most_millennials_living_w_roommates_rather_live_alone/10040.