Newlyweds Adding ‘A New Home’ to Their Gift Registries

As wedding season is in full bloom, crock pots and matching linens are out and down payments are in, according to a new survey from Realtor.com and Censuswide.

New research finds that newlyweds would rather gift-givers skip traditional presents in favor of financial gifts toward the purchase of a home, but many feel obligated to register for traditional gifts they don't want.

Among those surveyed who have created a wedding registry in the last 24 months, an estimated 85% say they would have preferred to have received money toward a down payment on a home, rather than a physical gift.

If they could do it again differently, they would—as 80% say that if they were creating a gift registry today, they would include an option for people to gift them money toward home buying expenses, such as a down payment, a mortgage payment, or closing costs.

But despite the desire for financial gifts to be used toward a home purchase, both newlyweds and gift givers are stuck in a traditional gift-giving cycle.

People are registering for—and giving—gifts they don't want out of obligation
Eighty-two percent of those surveyed who've recently created a wedding registry say they felt obligated to register for traditional gifts, such as home furnishings, dishware, etc., with 53% saying they felt very obligated to register for traditional gifts.

This is causing most (88%) of those surveyed who've recently created a wedding registry to register for gifts they didn't really want:

• An estimated 46% registered for gifts they didn't want because they felt obligated to have traditional gifts on their registry.
• Some 40% registered for gifts they didn't want because their fiancé/spouse wanted them.
• Roughly 35% registered for gifts they didn't want, but planned to return them for money to use on what they really want.

The obligation to traditional gifting goes both ways:

• Some 80% of those who've recently created a wedding registry say they've felt obligated to buy a traditional gift for a wedding they attended.
• Roughly 70% say they would prefer to buy a traditional gift for a wedding they attend.

Times are changing
Seventy-two percent of those surveyed who've recently created a wedding registry included options on their registry for people to contribute financially to a specific large-ticket item, such as a honeymoon, and 22% said they didn't include this option, but would have liked to.

This corresponds with more people being willing to give money toward home buying as a gift at weddings they attend, with 30% of those surveyed now being open to giving such gifts:

• Some 16% would prefer to gift money toward a home down payment.
• An estimated 14% have no preference between a traditional gift and money toward home buying expenses.

"Over the last few years, homebuyers have been facing a number of challenges, most notably around affordability due to high home prices and mortgage rates," said Clare Trapasso, Executive News Editor at Realtor.com. "We're seeing buyers get creative with how they cobble together the necessary financials, from tapping into down payment assistance programs, to asking for help from family and friends. Adding a home buying gift option to a wedding registry is a great way for people to crowd-source these often hard-to-come-by funds. It allows their loved ones to celebrate one of the biggest moments of their lives while helping them to achieve homeownership."

With mortgage rates expected to remain elevated, putting pressure on homebuyers' budgets at least through the end of this year, coupled with continued low for-sale inventory, competition for housing will remain strong and homebuyers will need to continue getting creative to afford to buy this year.

To read the full release, including more data and methodology, click here.