Generation Y — or Millenials — are abandoning the traditional dream of home ownership for several reasons. A recent poll from TD Canada Trust shows that large student loan debts, higher property prices, and tighter credit lines all contribute to the fact that people born between 1978 and 2001 are not buying homes in nearly the numbers their parents were. Here we look at why Generation Y aren’t buying homes.

Tight Lending Conditions

Twenty-five percent of Millenials report difficulty securing a loan as a top reason to rent instead of buying.

The tighter lending regulations set in place in 2012, which were designed to help Canadians reduce their debt, seem to have made Gen Yers more skeptical about their ability to secure a loan.

Heavy Student Loans

Due to the increasingly higher costs of continued education, 23% of Millenials find it impossible to pay rent and other immediate bills, pay their student loans, and save for a down payment for a new home.

Earning Power

Generation Yers are expressing concern about making enough money to keep up with mortgage payments.

Looking at the ongoing housing market turmoil, which has sent mortgage prices skyward even as wages remain stagnant, Millenials are feeling anxious about debt.

They see people who have made what should have been the “right” decisions a generation ago lose their homes today because of circumstances they can’t control.

Rising Prices

More than half of the Millenials polled expect prices to keep rising even if their wages don’t.

As housing prices rise, Millenials are not optimistic about being able to save up and set aside a large enough down payment amount.  For this reason, lots of Gen Yers are waiting longer to buy a home.

Desire Without Confidence

A recent survey found that Millenials do want to emulate their Baby Boomer parents and invest in homes for themselves — there’s just a lot of anxiety among them that they won’t be able to hack it. However, 55.1 percent of those polled said they think their next move will be into a home of their own.

Changing Attitudes

The dream to save enough money for a down payment on a home and to work hard to pay off the rest over a lifetime is not shared by this generation with those who came before.

Life experience consistently ranks higher than home ownership as a top priority for young people. What might have been a $10,000 down payment 30 years ago is now a backpacking trip across Europe.

Baby Boomers purchased homes in record numbers and perceived home ownership to be an achievement of the modern dream. Their children, the Millenials, are pessimistic about both the market and their own abilities. Afraid of rising costs, looming student loan debts, and uncertain of their own economic future, it appears unlikely that it will be Millenials who pull Canada out of its housing market crisis.

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Author Bio:

Andrew Lisa is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles. He writes on a variety of topics, including reputation protection.