Home Sales Are On The Rise In Massachusetts, But Young Adults Aren't Buying

While lower home prices and rock-bottom interest rates are continuing to spur home sales in Massachusetts, there's a certain demographic that isn't buying.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors says that condos and single-family home sales have been on the rise for the past 13 months — up more than 30 percent in May compared to the same time last year.

And there's no surprise why — according to the Case-Shiller Index, home prices in Boston have continued to drop, and interest rates are low.

But while that's enticing some house hunters, young adults aren't taking the bait. According to The Boston Globe, while homeownership in Massachusetts increased over all between 2005 and 2010, for 25-to-34-year-olds it dropped by 20 percent.

The financial reasons are numerous — young adults have a limited credit history and are increasingly saddled with high student loans. But after the housing crisis that sparked the recession, buying a home isn't the same sure bet that it used to be. And so for a job-anxious, highly-mobile young workforce, homeownership may seem like more of a pipe dream than the American dream.

Karl Case, a retired Wellesley College economist and co-founder of the Case-Shiller Index, and Michael Goodman, associate professor and chair of the department of public policy at UMass Dartmouth, join Radio Boston to discuss the changing landscape of young homeownership in the state.

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