The term “millennials,” used to describe a generation of Americans who were born in the early 1980s to the late 90s, has emerged as a buzzword in recent years among economic analysts and forecasters, particularly in the area of home ownership.

In January, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing home ownership had dropped to its lowest level – 63.9 percent – in at least two decades as of the end of 2014.
Subsequent articles in national publications examined the role of millennials in those statistics, explaining that some of the reasons why certain people in that age range include lingering psychological effects of the recession, underemployment, student loan obligations and a continuing trend of postponing having children.

The Commerce Department report stated that for the fourth quarter of 2014, the home ownership rates were highest for people ages 65 and older and lowest for the under-35 age group.

But national articles about the report also said there are reasons to be optimistic about the future when it comes to millennials choosing to buy homes.

Locally, home sales have continued to rise this year, according to Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors (WRAR) data. The WRAR Multiple Listing Service showed more than 100 additional home sales in April this year compared to last year.

Millennials, local real estate professionals say, have been among those homebuyers in New Hanover, Pender and northern Brunswick counties.

At times, home ownership hesitation among the age group is related to different priorities, said Stephanie Lanier, founder and CEO of Lanier Property Group, a Wilmington-based residential real estate firm.

“Millennials will say the most important thing to them about work is flexibility,” Lanier said, which means they might be more transient. “If that’s your core value about your lifestyle, then home ownership may or may not fit into that. But I still think that everyone knows it’s a great way to build wealth if you make wise choices, and some of the couples we work with get that.”

Recently, one of Lanier Property Group’s agents, Lisa Sahlie, sold a condominium off 17th Street in Wilmington to a buyer who fit the millennial demographic.

“When they do enter the real estate market they’re much more educated,” Lanier said of millennial generation buyers.

Part of that consumer education is the knowledge that the more money they save, the more millennial generation buyers can use for a down payment. According to a March New York Times article on the subject, one of the biggest challenges for first-time homebuyers is saving enough for that initial payments. But in some cases, that burden has been eased by the fact that certain loans have become easier to get, the article explained.

In the case of the Wilmington area, some younger homebuyers choose to stay in the area for the quality of life or strive to come back if they’ve lived in Wilmington before but had to leave at some point for jobs, Lanier said.

“I think that Wilmington is less transient,” she said.