Welcome to the 'nepo' housing market: 40% of homebuyers under 30 get family money to cover their down payment

Ok but let’s stop blaming people for buying places to live and recognize that a larger problem is corporations buying properties by the dozens and using them as sky-high rentals or just a place to park money.

I don't get it.

I understand the current housing market is messed up, but parents helping their kids putting a down payment for their house is dystopic "nepotism" now? Wouldn't you help your loved ones if you have the means to do so even if you are not super rich?

Would it have been better if they told their kids to pick themselves up by their own bootstrap and get a 30 year loan from big banks instead?

I hate this term ... giving your kids money to help them start out on their own isn't nepotism, it's parenting.

Nepotism is when you violate a responsibility you have to a third party (e.g., your employer) to act impartially in their interests, in order to benefit your family.

Is the idea that parents should donate their money equally to everyone's kids? This makes no sense.

You don't even need to have super rich parents. My mother helped me get my first home with 15K that she saved throughout the years. (I paid her back).

That was just enough for my down payment. Without that I couldn't have gotten the house.

God, if only people could just like pool their resources together to build homes or something...

We could even call it something like "social housing," and have it be a publically regulated service instead of treating housing as some sort of game of investment for the wealthy? No no, totally impossible...

And again, the corporate media is blaming anyone but real estate companies and market speculators.

We wouldn't have been able to buy without a 10k push from my father-in-law.

What a clickbait title. How is giving your kids money "nepotism" ?

That's not nepotism. Nepotism would be some land baron giving land to his kids, or a city official changing zoning to allow their family member to build something otherwise restricted.

Don't worry, I was trying to buy a house with my parents this past year. Even if they sold their current house to help, we couldn't afford what we'd need (3 bed 2 bath) since they don't have a ton of savings and only one of them is working still.

So even with help, some of us are still too poor.

I got 20K from my parents for my down payment when I was 45 and they still had to co-sign for me to get approved. No way in hell I could have gotten the house without them.

I'll definitely be buying my children houses, with all that tons of spare money I have around. Piles of it. Yep. Sooooo much money

Seriously, who are these people that can fork out $100k to each child? I don't even have retirement savings, and I'll die on the job, with any luck! #genx

Shit. I was in my 40s and it took a generous gift from my parents to buy my first house

There are home buyers under 30? Shit I can barely afford to eat.

The country is ran by geriatric nepo babies... If you are not one of their crotch fruit, good luck, peasant! You are going to be experiencing a lot of that "free market" in your ass.

Almost reads like the author is fucking mad other people have rich parents who have the brains to help the very humans they created and brought into this life.

Well I’m pretty mad that I’ll never be able to afford a house, despite having a good solid job. My parents aren’t rich, so they can’t help me. And while I’m not mad at them for not being able to help, I am mad that all other things being equal that puts me at a disadvantage.

Here’s a hypothetical scenario: Let’s say I make $60K a year, am single, with significant student debt. Let’s also say because of the pandemic payment pause, maybe I was able to save, like $5K, and I want to buy a house. Not gonna happen. Now take all the same things but add in well-off parents who could help with a down payment. That hypothetical person gets a house. They have a definite advantage. To me, that’s not just unfair, it perpetuates a system of wealth transfer that only helps part of the population. Everyone should have the same opportunity to own a home, if they want to.

My wife and I had enough for a down-payment but my parents leaning me $10k at a lower rate was helpful, vitally getting rid of the PMI quicker.

Helping kids with their down payment isn't exactly some new thing.

Only 40%? That seems....not true.

Lol, I had to do the same in 2008. Nothing's changed. Except it's only gotten more expensive

Nothing is going to fundamentally change so long as housing supply drastically falls short of the demand. There's no way to escape the core issue that we don't have enough housing units in the places people want to live, and so the units that are available are going to go to the wealthiest people seeking them.

only 40%, I guess this isnt tracking people who have no show jobs for their family business

Lmfaooooo Bruhhhh I'm under 30 and I'm living with my parent rather than getting help moving out.

I got money from my ex’s family to buy my house in my 30’s.

Obama (or Illinois?) gave me 10k down payment in 2009 and I got a tiny townhome at 23 right after I got a job outta college. I stayed in it for 10 years and traded it in for a bigger house like a crab after I got married.

I was not money conscious at the time but my dad pretty much forced me to get a house if I had the means. I'm glad he did.

So I guess I was also gifted my down payment from my parents and other tax payers parents.

Lots of people go on about how everyone could afford a home back in some golden age. Those homes were a lot smaller than the huge things that seem to be the standard today. Also living in prime areas like NYC has always been expensive. Slums were pretty common way back when in the cities.

Edit: I just saw an article saying the average size for new detached homes has gotten 10% smaller as land in developed areas has gotten scarcer. Prices aren't going down with this though. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a return to townhouses (similar to council houses in England). 3 deckers were built in the north for housing the influx of factory workers.