Millennials feel sting of Bay Area housing woes

Cinnamon Westbrook knew the Bay Area would be challenging but expensive when she moved from Texas to take a position as a psychologist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.

She and her husband, Robert Porter, a lawyer, settled into a rental in Sunnyvale — a reasonable commute for both and a place they could stay while Westbrook was expecting her first child.

But during her pregnancy, their landlord announced she was planning to renovate the home and move in, prompting an eightmonth-pregnant Westbrook and her husband to frantically search for a new home.

“We had no plans to move,” said Westbrook, a 35-year-old with a doctorate in psychology. High prices and unstable housing have caused the couple to reconsider their long-term future in the Bay Area. “It’s been such a night

mare,” she said.

They’re among the growing number of Bay Area millennials who feel increasing angst about their ability to continue living here. Residents in their early 20s through late 30s face a more expensive, more crowded and generally bleaker housing future, according to a recent survey by real estate website Zumper.

Among millennials surveyed, 3 in 10 expect to move elsewhere in the next year, and 4 in 10 live with a significant other — higher than any other age group. Many no longer believe homeownership is part of the American Dream.

“I think people feel like they pay to play here,” said Zumper CEO Anth Georgiades. Young professionals can put up with high Bay Area prices for the possibility of a big payoff — a successful startup, appreciating stock options and the opportunity to work in a diverse and competitive culture, he said.

Zumper, a website for rental listings and property management, conducted the informal survey of 10,219 online U.S. users in May and June. The survey, open to those 18 and older, reflected its heaviest users — younger renters living in cities — rather than a broad cross-section of renters around the country, the company said.

Bay Area renters surveyed were far more likely to live with roommates than their peers in other parts of the country. About 37% of the region’s renters lived with roommates — not their parents or partners — compared with 24% nationwide.

Among Bay Area renters ages 23 to 38, roughly 4 in 10 said they spent more than the recommended 30% of their gross income on housing. Most experts consider a family or individual “rent-stressed” if they spend more than one-third of their paycheck on shelter.

About half of survey respondents said they spent more than an hour a day commuting.

The grind of finding housing in the Bay Area often means frantic apartment searches, budgetstretching leases and family help. Many say the best hope for hanging on and buying a house is financial aid from parents.

Sonya Herrera, 28, has moved several times since she started college at San Jose State, most recently renting a home infested with roaches and rats in downtown San Jose, she said.

Eight people shared the space, each with their own bedroom but using common bathrooms and a kitchen. At least, she said, “everybody else is struggling like you.”

Herrera paid about $800 a month but wanted to save money while she completed her studies. So she moved back to Stockton with her mother at the beginning of October, pays $300 a month toward rent and tries to get out of the house as much as possible.

She does not expect to stay in the Bay Area longterm. Herrera sometimes looks at real estate listings and found a condo in downtown San Jose for $750,000. “That would get me three houses in Stockton,” she said. “It doesn’t really make sense.”

Kelsey Banes, also a psychologist at the Palo Alto VA, found a bungalow in the nearby downtown.

But soon after she moved in, she received an eviction notice. The downtown property with three rental units had been sold, and the buyer planned to build a large custom home on the spot.

In the middle of a housing shortage, Banes said, the city was eliminating affordable apartments. “It just sort of made me crazy,” said the 33-year-old with a doctorate degree. “It’s going to be way too expensive for any millennial.”

Banes found another rental nearby, sharing a two-bedroom with a roommate and paying about $2,000 a month. It’s not ideal.

“I would like to have the stability of a home,” said Banes, who joined the local YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) group in Palo Alto and plans to become a full-time housing activist. “I wouldn’t want to have a family in a situation where we could be evicted at any time.”

Bay Area millennials share a common goal with the rest of the country — roughly two-thirds of those surveyed said they believe the American Dream involves homeownership.

Hayes Shair and his wife, Shannon, moved back to the Bay Area in 2014 after a few years on the East Coast finishing their graduate studies. Both of their families lived in the Bay Area, and the couple wanted to have their two young children grow up near their grandparents.

The couple rented a home from Shannon’s parents in Fremont.

They paid market rent but avoided the hassle of an apartment search with young children.

Hayes, an architect, and Shannon, a lawyer, eventually saved enough money for a down payment on a four-bedroom craftsman home in Fremont. It was a struggle, he said, but “we’re very blessed.”

Westbrook and her husband now rent a home in Los Gatos. They still own a home in their previous city, Dallas, and are baffled and frustrated by how much more difficult it is to live in the Bay Area.

Some long-time residents in their neighborhood have shared their own stories about scrimping and saving for a down payment. Westbrook bites her tongue.

“They look at us like we’re lazy or bad with our money,” she said. These days, she added, “You can’t just scrimp and save.”