(Article republished from TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com)
I feel so badly for the millions upon millions of young people that are struggling so much right now.
We encourage them to pile up giant mountains of student loan debt without ever considering the consequences, and then once they get out into the real world they quickly discover that the cost of living has become extremely suffocating.
As a result, vast numbers of young adults are finding that it is necessary to move back in with their parents…
Nearly half of all young adults are living with their parents — and they’re not ashamed to say it.
Moving out and living on your own is often seen as a marker of adulthood. But dealt an onerous set of cards — including pandemic lockdowns, decades-high inflation, soaring student debt levels and a shaky job market — young people today are increasingly staying put. What’s more, it’s no longer seen as a sign of individual failure.
Needless to say, this is not a good thing for our society.
The last time that such a high percentage of young adults were living with their parents was during the aftermath of the Great Depression…
These days, about 23 million, or 45%, of all Americans ages 18 to 29 are living with family, roughly the same level as the 1940s, a time when women were more likely to remain at home until marriage and men too were lingering on family farms in the aftermath of the Great Depression.
So why is this happening?
One of the primary reasons why this is happening is because high interest rates have pushed housing costs to insane levels.
This week, the average rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage reached 7.19 percent…
US mortgage rates remained flat this week, hovering over 7%, where they’ve been for six consecutive weeks as inflation pressures persist.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.19% in the week ending September 21, a tick up from 7.18% the week before, according to data from Freddie Mac released Thursday. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate was 6.29%.
“Mortgage rates continue to linger above 7% as the Federal Reserve paused their interest rate hikes,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said. “Given these high rates, housing demand is cooling off and now homebuilders are feeling the effect,” he said. “Builder sentiment declined for the first time in several months and construction levels have dipped to a three-year low, which could have an impact on the already low housing supply,” Khater added.
And this isn’t even going to be the peak.
In fact, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun is warning that “in the short run, it’s possible that mortgage rates may go up to 8%.”
8 percent?
Are you kidding me?
Read more at: TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com