Despite a sustained uptick in the American residential real estate market, young professionals may delay purchasing a home. Recent studies show that about one-third of Americans under the age of 30 are more interested in renting an apartment than buying a home. Financial pressures from student loan debt are often cited as a contributing factor, but larger cities continue to exert a strong pull.
Some pundits have commented that people who grew up with cell phones demonstrate a marked aversion to long-term contracts such as marriage and mortgages. Women and men around the world are waiting longer to get married — 27 and 30, respectively — and although working remotely from more peaceful climes remains an option, there is still an inherent cachet attached to working in an office in a major hub of industry.
Renting an apartment can also provide young professionals who are poised to begin their ascension of the career ladder with a chance to access a wide range of amenities. Typically, apartment complexes provide tenants with security patrols or cameras, laundry facilities, and general lawn maintenance. Apartment rental complexes may find that by providing tenants with recreational facilities like pools and volleyball courts, they can attract and retain residents for longer periods of time.
Despite being oft-chided as an impractical generation, Millennials can save more than $500 every month in property taxes and utility bills by renting an apartment. The generation who grew up doing their homework on the internet may have matured into a group of people who are used to online comparison shopping, looking for discounts and finding them.
A city apartment can offer young people a fast-paced new lifestyle: city loft apartments and the best luxury apartments are often located in beautiful apartment building complexes that are close to nightlife and job opportunities. The cell phone generation may never settle down and move back to the suburbs, but would we want them to?
