Millennials can't afford homes as they 'spend too much partying'
US millennials who attend three hen parties a year for three years will spend $13,788, the equivalent of a quarter of the down-payment on an average home, according to real-estate site Zillow. The study came as US home ownership hit a new low, with 35% of millennials owning their homes, compared with 42% 10 years ago. While some argue job instability, large amounts of student loan debt and low wages are obstacles to younger people entering the housing market, others said millennials are choosing to invest in education and career mobility first and will have greater purchasing power when they do decide to settle down.
Be careful about how often you decide to travel to celebrate the special brides and grooms in your life — it may cost you your first home.

The average bachelor party costs each attendee $1,532 and the average bachelorette party $1,106, including accommodation, nights out, gifts and travel, a new study from real-estate site Zillow found, and millennials attend an average of three such parties a year over the course of their peak wedding-attending ages. Going to three such parties over a three-year period amounts to $13,788 spent on visiting marrying friends, or 24% ($56,000) of the down payment on an average home.

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As all these costs continue to go up, brides and grooms should be extra cognizant of costs when planning their bachelorette parties, said Erin Lowry, millennial personal finance expert. “You should consider your friends’ budgets, especially if you’re getting married in your early to mid-20 before people may have settled into careers and gotten any debts under control,” she said. “A bachelorette party may be a once-in-a-lifetime event for the bride — but it’s not for the attendees.”

The study, which doesn’t even account for the costs of attending the weddings themselves, comes as homeownership has hit new lows in recent years, down to 64% in 2017 from its peak of 69% in 2006 among U.S. adults. This decrease is driven largely by millennials, 35% of whom own a home today compared with 42% just a decade ago.

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And yet 65% of millennials consider owning a home part of the American dream and there are obviously more roadblocks than just extravagant bachelor and bachelorette parties are preventing them from achieving it. Millennials make up a large part of the $1.44 trillion in total student loan debt in the U.S., according to Student Loan Hero, a site that helps people pay off their student loans. Job instability and low wages also weigh heavily on that generation.

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However, that doesn’t mean millennials won’t ever buy homes, said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “There is much gnashing of teeth in the real-estate community about millennials not buying homes to the extent they did, but the reality of it is that many millennials who haven’t bought yet will skip the starter home when they do,” he said. “They are investing in education and career mobility and will have greater buying power at the point they settle down to buy a home.”

Meanwhile, they should budget their extraneous costs — whether they’re vacations, weddings, or bachelorette parties — or begin to turn down invites. “Weddings are expensive, whether it’s yours or attending somebody else’s — you’ve got to set limits around your spending so as not to jeopardize future financial goals,” McBride said.