Millennial buyers fueling American dream

NORTH TEXAS - Despite coming of age during the mortgage crisis, the majority of Millennials, or 72 percent of 2,083 adults surveyed, say they plan to own a home in the future, according to Trulia’s year-end 2012 American Dream survey, which tracks Americans’ attitudes towards home ownership.

That demand, coupled with a low inventory of homes on the market, has home prices on the rise.

Millennial homebuyers between the ages of 18 and 35 are looking to declare their independence through home ownership, according to a recently released survey by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, which surveyed 1,000 Millennial adults.

Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed say they are seeking essential and purposeful homes, which is a change from their parents’ generation of buying stereotypical luxury homes.

In the latest data available, there was a 2.8-month supply or 22,697 listings in 2012, which shrank from a 4.4-month supply or 30,210 listings year over year, according to Ted Wilson, president of Dallas-based Residential Strategies.

Developer Matt Segrest, who is working on two luxury apartment developments in Uptown — a six-story building near Victory Park and a six-story Mediterranean-style building off Carlisle St. near the Katy Trail — says he is pleased that single-family home prices are on the rebound.

Home prices are directly related to the health of an economy and typically are tied to a growing number of jobs, he said. In January, Texas added 10,400 jobs, which gave the Lone Star state a 2.9 percent growth in jobs year over year.

By the end of 2012, the average monthly rent in North Texas rose 2.8 percent year over year, according to Carrollton-based MPF Research. At the same time, the average occupancy rate for apartments in North Texas also increased to 93.7 percent in 2012 from 93.3 percent at the end of 2011.

The average monthly rent was $853 a month, which enters the realm of a monthly home mortgage payment.