The Housing Muse: Couples Say This Is the Perfect Wedding Gift: Down Payment Help
Wedding registries are increasingly including “home fund” donations.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
In ditching the crockpot and fancy new towels, more couples are adding a “home fund” to their wedding registries. They call it one of their favorite wedding gifts from guests.
Eighty-five percent of couples who created a wedding registry over the last two years say they wish they would have asked for money toward a home down payment instead of traditional wedding gifts, according to a survey by Realtor.com. More wedding registries are making it easier to list “home fund” cash donations, in catering to the growing number of couples who have less interest in perusing stores to zap crystal, silverware and small appliances onto their wedding registries and who have more interest in scanning real estate listings together.
About a third of couples who asked for cash on their wedding registries say they planned to use it to buy or move into a home, and about 19% say they wanted to invest it in home renovations and upgrades, according to a survey of more than 4,000 couples who got married last year, conducted by the wedding planning and registry company Zola.
After all, couples say their next biggest priority after getting married is to buy a home—more so than other life goals like starting a family, paying off debts, traveling, or completing education, the Zola survey shows.
Home funds—just behind “honeymoon fund”—have emerged as the most popular wedding registry cash fund on popular sites like The Knot.
“It’s wonderful that couples feel empowered to make their registries ultra-personal to their goals, especially as they enter marriage together,” Esther Lee, deputy editor of The Knot, said in reporting the survey’s findings. “Milestone gifting is a profoundly thoughtful and significant trend we’re seeing among couples. Amid rising interest rates and historic highs for down payments, this particular wedding contribution helps newlyweds reach another meaningful life milestone—homeownership.”
Homeownership is costly, and first-time buyers are increasingly struggling to afford it. They’re relying on help from others: Overall, about a quarter of first-time buyers used a gift or loan from friends or family for the down payment, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ “2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers” survey.
Marriage or Mortgage?
In looking to save up to buy a home, some couples may be weighing other cost-saving moves, even forgoing traditional wedding nuptials. Consider, the average cost of a wedding in 2024 is $30,000, according to Zola. The average cost of an engagement ring is $5,500.
However, a 3% down payment for a median-priced home at $209,450 in Cleveland, Ohio is about $6,200—one of the most affordable in the nation, according to the latest RE/MAX National Housing Report.
A new survey from LendingTree shows more than a third of Gen Zers (ages 18 to 26) and 21% of millennials (ages 27 to 42) say they plan to postpone marriage until they sign a deed—for a home, that is. However, “2024 might be easier on would-be home buyers than 2023 was,” says Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree. “Mortgage rates should come down even if home prices remain steep. On top of that, inflation growth should continue to cool.”
So maybe couples won’t have to choose and can have both the marriage and the mortgage (although they may be asking for their wedding guests’ help!).
Melissa Dittmann Tracey
ABOUT ME:
Melissa Dittmann Tracey is an award-winning journalist who covers the latest real estate news and trends. You can hear her weekly on the syndicated radio show and podcast, Real Estate Today, in her housing trends segment, “Hot or Not?” She is the creator of the Styled, Staged & Sold blog and a frequent contributor to Houselogic.com and REALTOR Magazine. She’s also the host of The Housing Muse podcast at http://www.housingmuse.com. Follow her on Instagram or X @housingmuse.
