By Lindsey Wells

While millennials have accounted for most of the home buying population for years now, experts anticipate a sizable increase in the number of them purchasing homes in the coming years, according to a story in the South Florida Business Journal.

The story, which was republished by Florida Realtors, noted that 80% of millennials and 73% of all respondents to a recent eXp survey believe owning a home is more important now due to COVID-19. The survey was part of eXp’s Emerging Real Estate Trends 2021 National Study, which surveyed more than 2,000 people planning to buy or sell a home in the next year or who have purchased a home in the past year.

The number of U.S. homeowners increased by an estimated 2.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 over the prior years, the report noted, citing U.S. Census Bureau data.

Still, those in the housing market today are up against numerous obstacles. A survey of 2,050 people conducted by LendingTree found that while 88% of Americans would rather own a home than rent, nearly half of respondents who identified as renters were concerned they would never be able to, the South Florida Business Journal article noted.