This recent news release by the National Association of Realtors attempts to convince us that 20-somethings are buying homes at a younger age than their parents and – gasp – aren’t waiting for marriage or even a long-term relationship before they commit to a mortgage payment. Apparently the trade group’s stats indicate that the percentage of first-time buyers under the age of 25 increased to 14 percent in 2005 from 11 percent in 2001 because of “historically low interest rates and continued confidence in the long-term housing market.”
Seriously? There’s a huge boom in post-bachelors degree home buying? I find that hard to believe. Most of the people in my cell phone directory are under the age of 30, and only one is a homeowner. I can’t name any other young people in my life who intend to purchase a home in the near future, and if one of us wanted to make such a large purchase, we would have to borrow money from our parents. Did Realtors simply run out of demographics to target? Or are more and more parents buying homes for their college-age or recently graduated children?
Perhaps the answers to those questions will tell us is why @properties is ambiguously marketing one of its new South Loop condo buildings to a younger population. The company’s Web site for Prairie 21, located at 2100 S Prairie Ave, features a very young-looking couple. The development’s full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune is similar and contains the slogan, “Life begins at 21.” The logo and design associated with this property are eye-catching but would look more appropriate for a clothing store in Wicker Park than for real estate. The ad seems to be saying, “You need to purchase a home, so you can establish your life.”
If life beings at 21, I’m already way behind.