Real Estate


least one regret about their home, compared with 65% of baby boomers, according to a recent Zillow housing survey. For her part, Medrano wishes


she had bought a house that had a half-bath and guest room. “We didn’t really know what we needed until afterwards,” she says. Homes sold in the Central


“This generation was really kind of shaken by the housing market downturn and recession, and so they’re very cautious,” says Virginia Realtors Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant.


Virginia/Richmond housing mar- ket spent an average of 32 days on the market in May, about the same as a year ago, according to a Long & Foster Real Estate report. Nationally, homes last year stayed on the market for an average of about 60 days. “I’m definitely seeing and


talking to other agents in my office about them getting into bidding wars,” says Richard Sena, a Richmond real estate agent with Small & Associates Inc. In addition to making higher


Brad Thomas, a Roanoke


Realtor with Mountain View Real Estate, recently took some mil- lennial buyers to a house that had hit the market that morning. By noon, the sellers had three offers. Like other metro areas statewide, Roanoke has a scarcity of available starter homes, leading to a sellers’ market, with homes fetching mul- tiple offers within a few days. As wages rise and older mil-


lennials reach their late 30s, the generation previously stereotyped for being tattooed and selfie- obsessed is settling down and buy- ing homes in increasing numbers. About a third of 2017 home


sales in the commonwealth went to millennials, according to an analysis by Virginia Realtors Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant.


30 | AUGUST 2019


Nationally, millennials accounted for 37% of all homebuyers from June 2017 to June 2018 — making them the most active generation of homebuyers for the sixth year in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2019 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study. “We talk a lot about the mil-


lennials wanting to be footloose and wanting to be not tied down,” Sturtevant says, “[but] this demo- graphic cohort is moving into an older age group and, as interest rates are still favorable, it suggests that 2019 should see an increase in [millennials] buying homes.” All the homebuying is leaving


many millennials shaking their heads, however. About 80% of homeowners ages 18 to 34 have at


offers, buyers are having to find other ways to make their bids more attractive to sellers. Not many millennials can do cash offers but they are recommended if possible, Sena says. Buyers are also offering shorter closings, paying for home inspections or repair fees, and are adding clauses so their offers automatically rise in response to competing bids. But Sena counsels his buyers


to accept that they may be outbid and should stick to a price ceiling. “What is that number for this house that you can say, ‘You know what? I’m glad the [other] guy got it,’ ” he says.


The American Dream The Virginia area with the


highest rate of millennial home- ownership in 2017 was Gaines- ville in Prince William County. Seventy percent of people ages 25 to 34 there were homeowners, double the statewide rate, Stur- tevant says. Contributing factors likely include affordable housing stock and a large number of His- panic millennials, she says. The Hispanic population represented


Photos by Stephen Gosling


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