Main Street

Housing and Hope

Not surprising to readers of this blog:

Demand is escalating for multi-generational housing as buyers scale down during the deepest housing crisis since the Great Depression, according to a survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Parsippany, New Jersey.

Thirty-seven percent of the company’s real estate agents polled in January said that in the past year, buyers were increasingly shopping for homes that fit more than one generation. Almost 70 percent of the agents said they expect economic conditions will drive still greater demand for this type of housing over the next year.

Remember that last summer our Lost Decade poll found that:

34% of the young workers surveyed still live with parents—theirs or a spouse’s. For those making less than $30,000 per year, 52% were still living with parents. That doesn’t just affect young people, either.

Another thing that poll found was a loss of hope among young workers. In 1999, 77% of young workers said they felt “hopeful and confident about being able to achieve economic and financial goals over next five years.” In 2009, just 55% felt that way.

This housing trend of families gathering together to buy houses that will fit multiple generations is yet another sign of a loss of optimism. People aren’t thinking that having adult children living with their parents is just temporary—they’re planning for it to continue for years to come. Do you think they’d be doing that if they thought things were going to get better any time soon?

(h/t Alison Omens)

Tags: economy, Housing