(Washington, DC – Insurance 360) – Although inventory constraints and costs kept potential millennial-aged home buyers from  leaving their parents’ homes, that age group accounted for about 36 percent of home purchases in 2017, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2018 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Study. The study revealed that proximity to friends and family are more important to millennial buyers than location and closeness to a school.

Buyers in Generation X accounted for 26 percent of home buyers over the past year. Older baby boomers accounted for 14 percent of home sales, and the salient generation purchased just six percent of homes.

This year’s findings reveal how low inventory conditions affect prices and what it takes to be successful as a millennial home buyer.

“Realtors® throughout the country have noticed both the notable upturn in buyer interest from young adults over the past year, as well as mounting frustration once they begin actively searching for a home to buy,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Prices keep rising for the limited number of listings on the market they can afford, which is creating stark competition, speedy price growth and the need to save more in order to buy.”

The 144 page survey revealed that younger baby boomers  were most common buyers of a multigenerational home,  because their adult children lived at home, as did their parents.

“Costly rents and growing student debt balances appear to make living at home more appealing, affordable and increasingly more common among young adults just entering the workforce,” said Yun. “Even in situations where three generations are all cramped under the same roof, it can significantly help some millennials eventually transition straight to homeownership. Eighteen percent of millennial buyers in the survey said their family home was their previous living arrangement.”

Source: National Association of Realtors.