New research from Realtor.com and Censuswide finds that newlyweds would rather gift givers skip traditional presents, like towel sets and air fryers, in favor of financial gifts toward the purchase of a home.
Among those surveyed who have created a wedding registry in the past 24 months, 85% say they would have preferred to receive money toward a down payment on a home. Given the option to make a registry again, another 80% say they would include an option for people to gift them money toward home buying expenses.
“Over the last few years, home buyers have been facing a number of challenges, most notably around affordability due to high home prices and mortgage rates,” says Clare Trapasso, executive news editor at Realtor.com. “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.”
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.
Eighty-two percent of those surveyed say they felt obligated to register for traditional gifts, and 53% say they felt very obligated. This is causing most (88%) of those surveyed to register for gifts they didn’t really want. According to the survey’s results:
- 46% registered for gifts they didn’t want because they felt obligated to have traditional gifts on their registry
- 40% registered for gifts they didn’t want because their fiance/spouse wanted them
- 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. Approximately 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 and 70% say they would prefer to buy a traditional gift for a wedding they attend.
People are starting to open up to the idea though, with 72% of respondents saying they included options on their registry for givers to contribute financially to a specific large-ticket item, such as a honeymoon. Plus, 22% said they didn’t include this option but would have liked to.
There’s both hope and growth for the future, with 30% of those surveyed now open to giving money toward a home as a gift. Sixteen percent would prefer to gift money toward a home down payment and 14% have no preference between a traditional gift and money toward home buying expenses.
