The share of baby boomer-age homebuyers has surpassed millennial buyers, and boomers are now dominating the D.C.-area housing market too.
Nationally, baby boomers accounted for 42% of sales in March, while millennials accounted for 29%, in what the National Association of Realtors calls “a plot twist” for the housing market. The drop in the share of millennial buyers is notable, down from 38% of sales just a year ago.
“I think the baby boomers in the market are going to be forming and shaping the market for several years to come. I believe they are finally making those tough decisions to prepare themselves for easier living or moving closer to family. They can’t wait. They are aging. And nothing is going to stop aging,” said Michelle Young, a board member with the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors and a Compass agent licensed in both D.C. and Maryland.
Older boomers buying have been in their current home an average of 16 years, longer than any other generation of seller.
Boomer buyers are also less sensitive to prices and mortgage rates, with half of older boomers and two-out-of-five younger boomers purchasing homes entirely with cash, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Younger boomers also accounted for 15% of multigenerational home purchases in March, or homes purchased with the intention of housing aging parents, and/or adult children as well.
Boomer buyers may also be leading a shift in the home buying process in the D.C. market, and elsewhere. Young said she has seen a return to more traditional offers with contingencies and other buyer protections.
“With appraisals and with home inspections, both are becoming more common and more thorough again. Buyers have the money, so they want to make sure if they are offering that top price or going over that they want the house delivered in the best condition it can be in” she said.
A recent Redfin report said 39% of sales contracts in the D.C. metropolitan area now include some kind of buyer concession, though Young said she has not seen a particular increase in concessions in recent deals she has brokered for buyers or for sellers.
Contingencies are slightly different from concessions, in that contingencies are a nonnegotiable part of a buyer’s offer — such as appraisals and inspections — and concessions are more flexible offers from sellers, to make repairs or offer cash to buyers.
Young said sellers are less likely to make concessions, especially big ones.
‘Heating and air conditioning work. Any kind of major plumbing work. Anything that is going to be a significant cost to the seller. I believe that sellers are still feeling that they could go back on the market and get just as good of a contract without those big asks,” she said.
Boomers also dominate the selling side, accounting for 53% of all home sellers in March.
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