Thanks a Lot, Boomer! Millennials Are Losing Out to Older Homebuyers, Study Finds

One of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches is Middle-Aged Man with Mike Myers playing the lead character, Middle-Aged Man, with his trusty sidekick, Drinking Buddy (Chris Farley), who just shows up to bum a beer.

The premise: Middle-Aged Man is a pot-bellied guy who is … middle age. He suddenly shows up on the scene to solve common domestic issues. His superhero powers are knowing grown-up things that younger people don’t — like he knows where all his appliance warranties are.

OK, so it’s ageist, but it makes a point that can’t be denied these days — Baby Boomers know how to score a mortgage and have emerged as a homebuying force that can vex younger Millennials.

That matches the finding of a new Zillow analysis of the age, sex, race, and income of homebuyers over a decade. Millennials and boomers — two of the biggest generations in the U.S. — compete for homes in a big way. Zillow’s analysis found that:

• Young people make up a smaller share of recent home buyers than in previous years, indicating much pent-up demand from millennial households
• Americans 60 years and older are more active in the housing market than a decade ago.
• Longtime homeowners who can tap equity gains have an advantage over younger buyers, who are often bidding for their first home and usually aren’t able to include as much cash in their offers.
• Despite the huge millennial generation aging into its peak home-buying years, young buyers make up a smaller share of the market than in previous years, suggesting first-time home shoppers are being crowded out by demand from repeat buyers.

“Whether downsizing or moving to a new town, baby boomers being more active means competition that previous generations did not have when buying their first home,” Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow, said in the analysis. “And older buyers have the advantage of a lifetime’s worth of savings and home equity to leverage in a competitive offer.”

The Zillow report has a lot of fascinating findings. You can find it here.

As a boomer, it’s no shame in knowing that pouring baking soda on battery cables reduces corrosion, or which of your investments have the best yields. Millennials would love to know that information. That makes Middle-Aged Man a hero. Here’s his theme song to prove it.

“Middle-Aged Man. Middle-Aged Man.
He has powers and knowledge that are far beyond younger men.
Middle-Aged Man.
Caught between forty and fifty-five
Accruing more interest, yet losing his sex drive.
Middle-Aged Man.”