Zillow Home Loans and The Knot find the share
of couples including "home funds" as part of their wedding registry
has increased 55%
SEATTLE and NEW
YORK, Oct. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A new
analysis conducted by Zillow® Home Loans and The
Knot shows that more couples than ever who are planning to
marry are registering for home funds to help them buy a house, in
addition to more traditional wedding gifts. For many couples,
marriage is accompanied by exciting — albeit expensive — life
changes, like purchasing their first home, and as home prices
continue to soar across the country, young couples are getting
creative to make their dream of homeownership a reality.
According to The Knot, the share of couples including "home
funds" as part of their wedding registry has increased 55% since
2018. Now, nearly 20% of all couples registered on The Knot are
asking their guests to help them with the down payment on their
first home.
"Home funds were one of the most popular wedding registry cash
funds on The Knot in 2022 — the second, in fact, right behind the
honeymoon fund," said Esther Lee,
deputy editor of The Knot. "It's wonderful that couples feel
empowered to make their registries ultra-personal to their goals,
especially as they enter marriage together. While guests prefer to
give cash gifts for celebratory treats, like a sunset honeymoon
dinner, milestone gifting is a profoundly thoughtful and
significant trend we're seeing among couples planning on The Knot.
Amid rising interest rates and historic highs for down payments,
this particular wedding contribution helps newlyweds reach another
meaningful life milestone: homeownership."
Recent research from Zillow shows that half of all home
buyers are purchasing their first home, the highest share that
Zillow has ever recorded. Between 2018 and 2022, first-time buyers
were at least twice as likely to report putting gift funds toward
their down payment. And most recently in 2023, 43% reported
gift funds from friends and family as the source of at least part
of their down payment funds.
Affordability is the greatest hurdle facing first-time home buyers.
It now takes nearly 12 years for a typical first-time buyer to
save up for a down payment, compared to nine years prior to the
pandemic. Meanwhile, the typical monthly mortgage payment has more
than doubled in that time. For a $350,000 home and assuming a 20% down payment, a
couple would need to come up with $70,000 for a down payment and expect to spend
$2,334 a month on a mortgage
payment.
"Young couples may be eschewing convention when it comes to their
weddings, but they still aspire to achieve the age-old American
dream of homeownership," said Amanda
Pendleton, a personal finance expert at Zillow Home Loans.
"That dream, however, can feel out of reach without the right
support. For couples who choose to add down payment funds to their
registry, it's important that they also work with a qualified loan
officer to understand what they can afford and what loan options
fit their situation. First-time buyers often think a 20% down
payment is required, but that's not always the case. Some may
qualify for a down payment as low as 3%, which will change their
savings timeline and monthly payment dramatically."
Zillow data shows that most first-time buyers put down between
10% and 19%. Home buyers looking to purchase in the next year
should take steps to research their credit score, make any
necessary steps to improve the score and talk to a qualified loan
officer to learn more about what type of loan might fit their
personal financial situation.
About 1 in 3 buyers also report receiving some kind of
grant toward their down payment, most commonly from a bank or
credit union. For first-time buyers, almost half report getting
some kind of down payment assistance. Buyers of color are more
likely to benefit from these grants; Zillow data indicates that 47%
of buyers of color reported using some form of down payment
assistance. Buyers can find available down payment assistance
programs on all for-sale listings on Zillow.
In addition to offering home funds through The Knot Registry,
The Knot Vendor Marketplace allows couples to search and find
wedding venues and professionals in one place. The Knot also
provides a comprehensive suite of free wedding planning tools,
including personalized wedding websites and The Knot
Invitations, making wedding planning seamless and enjoyable for
couples.
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group,
Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and ZG)
is reimagining real estate to make it easier to unlock
life's next chapter. As the most visited real estate website in
the United States,
Zillow® and its affiliates offer customers an on-demand
experience for selling, buying, renting, or financing with
transparency and ease.
Zillow Group's affiliates and subsidiaries include
Zillow®; Zillow Premier Agent®; Zillow Home
Loans™; Trulia®; Out East®;
StreetEasy®; HotPads®; and ShowingTime+™,
which houses ShowingTime®, Bridge
Interactive®, and dotloop®. Zillow Home
Loans, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287
(www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).
About The Knot
The Knot is a leading wedding
Vendor Marketplace that connects couples with more than 200,000
local wedding professionals and offers a comprehensive suite of
planning tools that includes personalized wedding websites,
invitations and registry services that make planning easier to help
couples enjoy the experience. The most trusted authority on wedding
planning, The Knot reaches a majority of engaged couples in the US
through TheKnot.com; the #1 wedding
planning app available on iOS and Android, The Knot Wedding
Planner; The Knot national wedding magazine; and The Knot book
series. Since its inception, The Knot has inspired approximately 25
million couples to plan a wedding that's authentic to them. Visit
The Knot online at TheKnot.com and follow
on social media: @TheKnot on TikTok, Instagram,
Pinterest and Threads and
Facebook.com/TheKnot.
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SOURCE Zillow Home Loans