Boomers Drive Home Sales; Millennials Still on the Sidelines

John Gittelsohn and Prashant Gopal survey the latest studies and research about the state of the housing market in the United States. Their take: wealthy baby boomers are driving the for-sale housing market while Millennials hold on pause before jumping into the market.

The article cites many sources and approaches the main argument from multiple angles. Here are a few sample data points as an introduction to the article:

• "Southwest Florida is the fastest-growing U.S. market for new houses, a sign that retirees such as the Jays are poised to buoy growth in the country’s depressed homebuilding industry next year." 
• "Sales of new single-family homes are expected to rise 16 percent to 510,000 in 2015, according to the median estimate of 25 economists and housing analysts in a survey conducted by Bloomberg News. That would be an acceleration from this year, which is expected to show a 2.6 percent increase from 2013, based on the survey results."
• "Housing starts, including multifamily projects, will climb about 15 percent to 1.15 million units, according to the estimates, which were submitted from late November through last week. Builders broke ground at an annual pace of 1.03 million in November, a 1.6 percent decline from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said yesterday. Annual starts haven’t surpassed 1 million since 2007, before the real estate crash accelerated."
• "Builders have increasingly shifted away from starter homes and are appealing to wealthier buyers, with the median price of a new U.S. house reaching a record high of $305,000 in October."