Home ownership is something that comes with great pride. And with it being one of, if not, the biggest, most sought-after purchase (and decision) that you will ever make in your years as an adult, it’s recommended that you thoroughly prepare yourself for the emotional and financial attributes that go along with doing so. This said, there are people of every age group and at each stage in their lives that look into the real estate market and agree to buy or sell their home. Most recently, however, it’s the millennials that are powering the housing market.

Millennials – those aged roughly 18-34 – are making big moves in the real estate world as of late, and we believe that there are several reasons as to why.

For starters, owning a home grants you with a sense of financial security. Sure, on the flip side, it can also potentially cause a great deal of financial stress – i.e. coming up with the initial down payment, meeting the regular mortgage costs, and so on – but as housing prices rise, your home can provide you with some financial security due to capital appreciation. A concept that many young-to-middle aged millennials can grasp. In fact, most home buyers that fall under the millennial category are more financially savvy than one may think. If anything, they understand their money and what makes the most financial sense to them, not the other way around.

Owning a home also allows for a great deal of flexibility, exclusivity, and stability – all attributes that millennials yearn for when it comes to solidifying their independence.

Aside from having free reigns on decorating and/or renovating their new home as they choose to, they also have a say on what sort of home they’d like to invest in. In fact, millennials nowadays are searching for their forever home – that home they can foresee themselves living in throughout marriage and kids – and skipping the traditional “starter home” altogether. For the most part, homebuyers of this age group have that “been there done that” mentality of no longer needing or longing for that city-living, centrally-located 1-to-2-bedroom home and trading it all in for that 3+ bedroom home in the suburbs – a place to call their own.

Home ownership is of very high importance to millennials; as a matter of fact, a whopping 86 percent of millennials view home ownership as such, despite the fact that some may still be renting or living with their parents. Regardless, purchasing a home is of top priority on their life’s to-do list.