3 Reasons Why Gen X Caused the 2008 Financial Crisis! (IT IS BAD!) The millennials in my office like to remind me that we boomers brought the world to the brink of nuclear Armageddon, polluted the planet to the brink of extinction, started numerous unnecessary wars, saddled the world with unmanageable debt, fostered more income inequality (to the benefit of boomers of course) than even the most evil of communist apparatchiks could have imagined, and created numerous asset bubbles – among other things. But, besides that, we’re OK apparently.

And some boomers (not me of course) make fun of millennials for being self-centered, social media obsessed, superficial, and undereducated avocado toast lovers who are incapable of anything that can’t be done on an iPhone.

(What is really comical is that both demographic groups blame each other for the same things, both economically and personally, except for the avocado toast thing – which might really just tell us that people are people are people.)

BUT – the real travesty of these inter-generational disputes is that Gen Xers get left out of the equation when they are entirely to blame for the 2008 Great Financial Crisis!

And the reason? They did not make enough of themselves! I mean seriously… WTF Xers!!

Please see the chart below that shows the total number of various age cohorts in the millions.

3 Reasons Why Gen X Caused the 2008 Financial Crisis! (IT IS BAD!)

Barry Habib reminds us often that the peak homebuying age for everyone is early 30s – as that is when people get established, start families, seek more independence, etc.

Number of Xers in Early 30s Hit Record Low in 2008

And – a brief glance at the chart above shows that 15 years ago when the GFC started, the number of Xers hitting peak homebuying age bottomed out and remained very low for years.

So – in 2008, after a decade of record inventory buildups, we also saw a record drop off in peak homebuying demand at the exact same time – proving that the 2008 GFC was not just an inventory problem; it was a demographic/demand problem too.

There are MILLIONS more millennials hitting peak homebuying age now than there were Xers hitting peak homebuying age in 2008 and for several years thereafter.

I might also remind readers that we have been building new homes at about half the pace that we were prior to 2008.

So – demographics are just one more reason why home values continue to rise in so many markets!

It is not just mortgage rate lockdowns and inventory issues; it is also peaking demographic demand in the face of record low inventory.

So – here are the 3 reasons Xers are to blame for the GFC:

  1. There were too few 30 – 31 year old Xers.
  2. There were too few 32 – 33 year old Xers.
  3. There were too few 34 – 35 year old Xers.

OK… I might not have “3 reasons,” but it did sound way better in my clickbait headline. 😊

Jay Voorhees
Founder | JVM Lending
(855) 855-4491 | DRE# 1197176, NMLS# 310167

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