More parents are helping millennials purchase their homes

Seventeen percent of parents with adult children ages 18-35 expect to help them buy a home in the next five years.

That’s an increase of 31 percent over the past five years, according to the survey conducted for loanDepot by GFK Custom Research North America.

Of the parents surveyed, half who anticipate helping their children buy a home plan to contribute toward down payments. Nearly 20 percent of parents say they will likely cosign the loan.

Of millennials surveyed, only 19 percent don’t expect to receive any financial help from their parents, according to the results.

Nearly 68 percent of parents who expect to assist their children with a home purchase are not expecting repayment.

Where will parents get this extra cash? About 67 percent said they will use money from their savings, which is down from 72 percent in the past.

Parents who plan to use cash from a home loan refinance or personal loan to help their children buy a home is expected to double, from 4 percent and 8 percent on a refinance to 3 percent to 8 percent on personal loans.

“Support from parents is playing a significant role in the housing recovery, and this new research indicates the trend will increase,” said Dave Norris, president and chief operations officer at loanDepot LLC, in a statement. “First-time home buyers comprise 28 percent of the today’s home buying market, an almost all-time low. Through the survey, 75 percent of millennial-age home buyers who received financial support from their parents said that assistance made it possible for them to buy a home. Without that financial support, it’s likely the pool of millennial first-time home buyers would be even smaller than today.

However, only 29 percent of the millennials surveyed who have received or expect to receive financial assistance from their parents view it as a gift. Of those surveyed, 36 percent believe it is a loan, and expect to eventually pay it back.

On the other hand, the number of parents who would allow their adult children to move back home increased from 8 percent to 22 percent, and the number of parents who would allow them to live at home to save home increased from 11 to 33 percent.