Millennials Can’t Afford Homes Because Of Bachelor Parties, Weddings, Study Says

Move over avocado toast — bachelor parties are the latest reason millennials can’t afford houses, according to a new study. A report by real estate website Zillow and wedding website The Knot found that the average millennial man spends $1,532 on a destination bachelor party weekend when accounting for accommodations, travel and other expenses. For women, that number is about $1,106 for a weekend.

“If the average person attends nine destination parties in a lifetime, they will have spent up to 34 percent of the cash needed for a down payment on the median priced home,” the study said.

For some places in the United States, that number is even higher. In urban regions like Cleveland and Pittsburgh, millennials can spend around 50 percent of a home’s down payment on bachelor festivities. And those don’t account for total expenses related to weddings — bridesmaids and groomsmen spend another $1,154 for clothing, gifts, travel and other wedding-related items, while guests not in the wedding party spend $888, according to the study.

Homeownership in the U.S. is down across the board. At about 63 percent across all age groups, home ownership is the lowest it's been in 50 years, according to the Washington Post. For those under 35, only 34.1 percent own homes.

The study’s criticism of bachelor party spending is eerily reminiscent of Australian millionaire Tim Gurner’s controversial claim that millennials couldn’t afford homes because they were spending too much money on avocado toast.

“When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each,” Gurner told “60 Minutes” in May. “We’re at a point now where the expectations of younger people are very, very high. They want to eat out every day. They want to travel to Europe every year. The people that own homes today worked very, very hard for it, saved every dollar, did everything they could to get up the property investment ladder.”

Bachelor parties, at the very least, seem a more reasonable explanation than avocado toast.