少吃牛油果就能買得起房？千禧一代不服

Millennials have enough problems as it is. Must they give up their avocado toast, too?

千禧一代已經(jīng)面臨足夠多的問題了。他們還必須放棄牛油果吐司嗎?

In an interview with Australia’s “60 Minutes” on Monday, Tim Gurner, a 35-year-old real estate mogul in Melbourne, suggested that young adults would be more likely to be able to buy a home if they curbed their discretionary spending, citing that expensive brunch item.

35歲的墨爾本房地產大亨蒂姆·古納(Tim Gurner)本周一在接受澳大利亞《六十分鐘》(60 Minutes)節(jié)目采訪時建議，年輕人如果遏制自己的自由支出，比如早午餐不吃牛油果吐司，那么買房的可能性就可能會更大。

“When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each,” he said. “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 travel to Europe every year.

“當我試圖買第一套住房時，我不會買19美元(約合130元人民幣)的碎牛油果，也不會每杯4美元的咖啡買4杯，”他說。“我們現(xiàn)在這個時代，年輕人的期望非常高，非常高。他們每天都要去餐廳吃飯，每年都想去歐洲旅游。”

“The people that own homes today worked very, very hard for it,” he said, adding that they “saved every dollar, did everything they could to get up the property investment ladder.”

他說：“今天擁有房子的人，曾經(jīng)非常非常努力，”他說，他們“節(jié)省了每一元錢，竭盡所能，在房地產投資的階梯上攀登”。

The advice spread on social media, and it was not well received. Some found the statement impractical or insulting.

這個建議在社交媒體上傳播開來，但并不受歡迎。有些人覺得這個說法不切實際，或者帶有侮辱性。

In fact, research suggests that people from 18 to 34, a group often referred to as millennials, are no more freewheeling with their spending on travel and dining than other generations. And it would take a lot of skipped avocados to put a dent in the heavy costs of homeownership, which is not always a prudent financial goal.

事實上，研究表明，通常被稱為“千禧一代”的群體，也就是從18歲到34歲的人群，在旅游和餐飲方面的支出并不比別的世代更隨性。房子價格昂貴，為了買房需要放棄大量的牛油果，而購房并不總是精明的財務目標。

According to the Food Institute, which analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics expenditure data from 2015, people from 25 to 34 spent, on average, $3,097 on eating out. Data for this age group through the decades was not readily available. But the bureau’s report indicated that this group spent $305 more than people from 55 to 64 — a group that encompasses some baby boomers — and $89 more than the overall average, including spending among people ages 35 to 54.

根據(jù)食品研究所(Food Institute)對2015年勞工統(tǒng)計局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的支出數(shù)據(jù)所做的分析，25至34歲人群去餐廳吃飯的平均消費額為3097美元。這個年齡段幾十年以來的數(shù)據(jù)不好找。但該局的報告指出，這個群體比55到64歲的人群多出305美元——該群體包括一些嬰兒潮一代——而且比總體平均水平高出89美元，其中包括年齡在35到54歲人群的支出。

The truth is, even if millennials assumed the eating-out habits of baby boomers, it would take around 113 years before they could afford a down payment on a home (assuming a 20 percent down payment on the median price for a home in the United States, $315,000 in March 2017, and a 1 percent yearly yield rate).

事實是，即使千禧一代繼承了嬰兒潮一代外出就餐的習慣，他們也要花大約113年的時間，才能付得起買房的首付(假設首付比例是20%，美國2017年3月的房屋價格中位數(shù)是31.5萬美元，年收益率為1%)。

Yes, you would surely save money by choosing to make your own avocado toast at home (perhaps with some cucumber soup).

誠然，的確可以通過選擇在家自制牛油果吐司(或許還可以搭配黃瓜羹)省錢。

The average price of a single avocado in March was $1.25, according to the Hass Avocado Board. One Twitter user, Nora Biette-Timmons, calculated that a serving of avocado toast cost her about $1.65 — or one-477,896th the average price of a home in Brooklyn. Compare that with New York City brunch prices, where you are likely to spend $10 to $20 for ornately dressed toast, and the savings are clear.

據(jù)哈斯牛油果協(xié)會(Hass Avocado Board)稱，3月，一枚牛油果的均價是1.25美元。在Twitter上，用戶Nora Biette-Timmons計算出她在家做一塊牛油果吐司要大約1.65美元，也就是布魯克林房屋均價的477896分之一。和紐約市豪華吐司可能要花10到20美元的早午餐價格相比，省錢很明顯。

But all generations of Americans are eating out more now, with food away from home rising to 43.1 percent of food expenditures in 2012, from 25.9 percent in 1970. It is not clear if millennials are driving that trend.

但現(xiàn)在，所有美國人在外面吃飯的頻率都增加了，外出就餐費用在餐飲花費中所占的比例，從1970年的25.9%增加到了2012年的43.1%。尚不清楚是不是千禧一代在推動這個趨勢。

As for Mr. Gurner’s second suggestion — skipping the European vacation — there is indeed an opportunity for savings, but research suggests millennials are the generation spending the least on travel.

對于古納的第二個建議——放棄去歐洲度假——的確是省錢，但研究表明，千禧一代是在旅游上面開支最少的一代人。

Millennials spent $4,832 per year on vacations, just below the $5,078 by Gen-Xers and $5,012 by boomers, according to MMGY Global’s Portrait of American Travelers in 2016. The study surveyed 2,948 adult travelers with annual incomes over $50,000.

MMGY Global在2016年發(fā)布的《美國旅行者報告》(Portrait of American Travelers)顯示，千禧一代每年在旅游上的支出為4832美元，低于X一代(嬰兒潮后出生的一代——譯注)的5078美元和嬰兒潮一代的5012美元。該研究調查了年收入在5萬美元以上的2948名成年旅行者。

Millennials were less likely than older generations to say they were cutting back on travel because of budget concerns but were also more likely to have difficulty getting time off work. They were also more likely to say they were too busy to get away.

和老一代相比，千禧一代不大會說因為預算方面的擔憂而削減旅游開支，他們也的確抽不出時間休假。他們會說自己太忙，無法脫身。

Another wrinkle in pitting age-specific preferences against buying a house: Homeownership is historically lower among young adults and has declined across most age groups since the 2008 financial crisis as the ratio of home prices to median household income has climbed.

還有一個導致特定年齡群體不買房的問題是：從歷史上看，目前年輕人當中的住房自有率降處于較低水平，并且自2008年金融危機以來，隨著房價與家庭收入中位數(shù)的比率攀升，大部分年齡群體中的住房自有率都下降了。