[quote=spdrun]47 years old. Born 1965. Graduated college in 1986 at age 21. Bought first home in 1992 at age 27. Unheard of? Seems quite normal to me for the time period.[/quote]
That “age milestone” of 27 (and even younger) USED to be the avg age of a FT buyer (FTB) in socal back in the ’80’s and prior.
But not so anymore. There are exceptions (very young professionals and those with local family help) but the avg age of a FT buyer is about 33-40 now.
The reason for this is not entirely due to price. Yes, the prices are higher today but the bulk of local residential RE which is thickly-traded today among buyers with minor children was built from ’89 forward and these dwellings are larger in square feet.
Generations past (boomers and prior) had no qualms about buying a 900-1400 sf SFR for their first home at the age of ~23 because this is what was available and what they could afford. Many (most?) of these FTBs did not possess college degrees but had stable local jobs. Only a very small percentage of current FTB’s would even consider a SFR of this size today, IMO.
[begin rant]The first CFD pursuant to the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act (1982) was formed circa 1987 in SD County. These bonds allowed developers to subdivide and build entire “master-planned communities” on huge undeveloped swaths of (outlying) land (nka “lizardland”). The first MR-encumbered “master-planned communities” built between 1987 and 1991 had the effect of creating a “sea-change” in values of FTB families seeking a principal residence. Even though HOA fees/MR made these homes far more costly in the long run, FTB families saw the “size” and “newness” of the homes in these developments and disregarded their smaller lots and greater distance to job centers when making buying decisions. Because of the greater initial cost (due to increased building costs, size and age) and addt’l carrying cost of these properties, the FTB’s buying them tend to be 10-15 years older than FTB’s of yesteryear.[end rant]
