Baton Rouge was listed among the top three markets in the United States last year for homebuyers ages 25 to 34. Yet convincing millennials to make the change from tenant to homeowner presents an ongoing challenge for realtors.
Limited job prospects and high student loan debt have made saving for a down payment a challenge for many millennials—many of whom also are more comfortable living with their parents in their early 20s compared to generations before them.
But as detailed in the current issue of Real Estate Report, a Business Report publication, the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors President Tiffany Palmer says in a market where rents can easily reach $1,500 a month or more, many millennials are looking at homeownership as a way to build equity and get more for their money.
“Our job as realtors is to educate the consumer. I do a lot of one-on-one sessions with first-time homebuyers, and whether they are 25 or 55 they have the same apprehensions toward purchasing,” she says. “You explain to someone paying $1,500 a month in rent that they could be buying a home by paying that same amount or a little less. It could be their own home.”
Although available inventory is now at a 12-year low in the Baton Rouge area, there are several new developments including Oak Ridge Estates and Lake at Anselmo with available inventory in the $200,000 to $300,000 range.
Pat Wattam, a RE/MAX First real estate agent and a former GBRAR president, says younger buyers tried to buy within this price range and they’re looking for new homes that are move-in ready.
Read the full 2016 edition of Real Estate Report for this and more stories on the local real estate market. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
