Report: Millennials face uphill battle to buy Bay Area homes

High down payments, a dearth of savings and a big gap between expectations and reality are the main hurdles on American Millennials’ face on their path to home ownership. 

The results of a nationwide survey by Point2Homes.com reveal that most American Gen Y-ers tend to greatly underestimate the amount of money they will need for a down payment and most of them have little or no savings. 

Also, depending on income and home prices, the time needed to save for a 20% down payment in the 100 largest U.S. cities varies significantly. In the Bay Area the report shows: 

• Oakland Millennials need the most time to save for a down payment: 8.5 years. This time frame could extend to as much as 21.2 years if  the average savings rate in the last decade, which was 8%, is taken into consideration
• If they set aside 20% of their income each month, Millennials in San Francisco would need 7.3 years to save the money needed for a down payment (18.3 years at an 8% savings rate)
• San Jose is among the top 10 U.S. cities where it takes the longest to save for a down payment: 6.8 years at a 20% savings rate and 17.1 years at an 8% savings rate.

The full report is here: https://www.point2homes.com/news/us-real-estate-news/millennials-high-down-payments-low-savings-delay-homeownership.html