Less than half of homebuyers and sellers between the ages of 35 and 44 believe real estate is a better long-term investment than the stock market, according to a survey from Redfin.
During December, Redfin surveyed more than 2,600 people who bought or sold a home in the last year, attempted to do so, or had plans to buy or sell in the near future.
Redfin’s survey found that buyers who reached the median first-time homebuyer age of 31 years old between 2008 and 2012, during the Great Recession and housing market collapse, were the only ones who had less confidence in real estate as an investment than the stock market.
Forty-eight percent of that group believed that real estate is a better long-term investment than the stock market.
“The oldest millennials and youngest Gen Xers entered their late twenties or early thirties during the housing crash, which explains why they are more skeptical about investing in real estate,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “This generation experienced a major setback during the housing bust, which hit just as they were most likely to be getting married, starting a family, and becoming a first-time homeowner.
“Looking into the future, we expect to see homeownership increase as millennials enter prime home-buying age,” Fairweather added. “This is because millennials have a more favorable opinion of real estate as an investment than Gen Xers, and millennials are a larger group than Gen Xers."
According to the survey, buyers and sellers in every other age group who believe real estate is a better long-term investment outnumbered those who believe the stock market is better, with respondents aged 55 to 64 being the most optimistic about real estate as an investment.