Millennials sour on homeownership

According to this week’s market reports, American millennials are down on the prospect of homeownership and New York registered an average asking rent of $64 for downtown office space.

Residential

Sales | ValueInsured

American millennials have soured on homeownership. In the third quarter of 2018, only 48 percent of millennials agreed that buying a house is a good investment. This represents a record low and a decline of six percentage points from the previous quarter. The record high in the survey is 77 percent, set two years ago. The reason for the decline may be due to a perceived link between homeownership and sacrifice. The survey found that 23 percent of the respondent agreed with the idea that they need to delay having children before buying a house. Meanwhile, 32 percent said that they would not be able to afford a healthy diet while saving for a home. Read the report here.

Sales | Olshan Realty

There were 12 contracts signed in Manhattan at $4 million and above between Aug. 6-12. The figure represents the lowest since January, when the market registered 12 contracts each for the first two weeks of the year. The top contract for the week was for a townhouse at 4 Sutton Square, which was sold with an asking price of $13 million. The second most expensive contract was for 58 West 9th Street, which sold asking $11.9 million. Read the report here.

Commercial

Mid-Year 2018 North America and Europe Office Market Report | Avison Young

New York was one of 11 markets that exceeded the national average asking rent for downtown class A office space. For the first half of the year, the New York average stood at $64.08 per square foot, higher than the national average of $48.04 per square foot. The survey pegged the office footprint in the US at 5.2 billion square feet across 46 markets, with the national vacancy rate at 12.1 percent. Westchester ranked second in the country in terms of vacancy rate at 19.5 percent. Read the report here.