MILLENNIALS MORE LIKELY TO REGRET BUYING A HOME

The regrets that can plague homebuyers are many, and young adults have more of them than older ones, according to a survey from Trulia, the real estate website.

Just over one in five surveyed say a past mistake is preventing them from making a change in their housing situation. Some buyers kick themselves for not being on more solid financial ground when taking on a mortgage, while four in 10 renters who didn’t buy also expressed regret for not making the leap in a market where prices have moved in only one direction — up.

About 13 percent of parents wish they had purchased in a neighborhood with better schools, while a comparable share of buyers — 15 percent — wish they had done better research on the front end.

Harris Poll surveyed 2,264 U.S. adults June 28-30 for Trulia, which sponsored a similar survey in 2013 when U.S. housing markets were emerging from a long slump.

Just over half of those surveyed who bought or were hunting for a home described having a significant regret, Trulia found. But when it came to millennials — those ages 18-34 — 71 percent of those surveyed wished for a doover.

Affordability concerns or a desire to be in an older urban neighborhood can push some first-time buyers to zero in on a home that they later realize is too small. Nearly three in 10 of millennial buyers wish they had bought a larger property than they did, while only one in 20 expressed regret that they didn’t buy a smaller property.

Twenty-four percent of millennials wish they had done more extensive remodeling after they bought their homes, double the rate of all of those surveyed.

A different report from Goldenbased HomeAdvisor found millennials were more likely to buy lower-cost properties with deferred maintenance, necessitating different projects.

Seventeen percent of millennials regretted not waiting until they were more financially secure before buying a home. Overall, just 9 percent of those surveyed had that regret.

But being too cautious also came with its own would-have, couldhave, should-have emotions. Among millennials who continued to rent, 28 percent wish they had made the leap into owning a home.

One of the most surprising findings in the survey was that just over a quarter of households with incomes of $100,000 or higher stated they could not afford to buy a home.