A housing trend that is exploding in NJ

Is it the money? Is it the melting pot?

It's both.

There is a huge, growing trend happening in New Jersey. Increasingly, families are living in multigenerational households, where three generations, and sometimes even more, reside under the same roof.

According to a recent study by Deeds.com using U.S. Census Bureau data, New Jersey ranks 6th in the nation for this trend. This means 4.46% of Garden State homes have at least three generations living there. That translates to 157,000 out of the state's 3.5 million households.

We already knew that New Jersey is incredibly expensive, which is why it became the number one state for grown children still living at home with their parents. Here, 42.7% of adults 18 to 34 years old continue to live with their parents. It's not an independence problem. It's a financial problem.

So it only makes sense that those sane economic realities have resulted in the exploding trend of even more generations living together. But it's not only money.

We also have a high number of foreign-born residents here. Such a diverse population includes immigrant communities from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, where multigenerational living had already been a cultural norm.

The only states where this is happening even more than here are Maryland, Delaware, Texas, California, and Hawaii, with Hawaii being number one. So if you're going to be selling your home and it happens to include an in-law suite, you might be sitting pretty.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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