美国房价高企，五分之一的新婚夫妇希望收到现金礼物
随着抵押贷款利率维持在8%左右，而房价持续上涨，从千禧一代到Z世代，买房作为美国梦的基础，变得越来越遥不可及。
因此，Zillow和婚礼策划网站The Knot在今年10月的报告称，有五分之一订婚的夫妻为了凑首付，拒绝了传统婚礼礼品愿望清单中的床上用品和餐具，而是建议亲朋好友提供现金。
新婚夫妇的第一套房按照20%的首付比例计算，平均需要70,000美元首付，因此他们通过有创意的方式来凑首付的做法能够理解。
Zillow Home Loans的个人理财专家阿曼达·彭德尔顿对《财富》杂志表示：“我们可以乐观地看待这种现象，因为年轻夫妻并没有放弃买房，而是愿意为了更快实现买房的美国梦，放弃有形的结婚礼物甚至蜜月基金。他们看重的是为一项不断升值的资产储蓄的价值，而不是新床上用品或银制餐具带来的即时满足感。”
但有一个小问题：婚礼宾客似乎并不喜欢这种请求。数据显示，亲朋好友对新蜜月礼物愿望清单缺乏热情。
The Knot的副主编埃丝特·李告诉《财富》杂志，一对普通夫妻获得的蜜月基金平均为767美元，比556美元的平均新房基金多32%。
抵押贷款利率在今年秋季达到23年来的新高，而房价持续上涨，婚礼宾客为什么更愿意赠送蜜月礼物，也不愿意为新婚夫妇提供更实用的礼物，例如首套房基金？我们应该学一学专家们所说的行为经济学。
选择的力量
摩根·沃德是一流高校埃默里大学（Emory University）戈伊苏埃塔商学院（Goizueta Business School）的市场营销学教授。她表示，出现这种现象的原因，可能是人们喜欢将更多“享乐主义的”商品作为礼物，或者赠送接收人不会自己购买的商品。沃德拥有得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校（University of Texas at Austin）麦库姆斯商学院（McCombs School of Business）的市场营销专业博士学位，她的主要研究方向是消费者行为。她指出，赠送礼物的人知道，无论他们是否为首套房基金出资，接收礼物的人都会自行购买。
沃德对《财富》杂志表示：“赠送者可能认为蜜月基金是选择性的而且无疑是用于享乐的，因此，赠送者提供价值更高的礼物，能够让接收者获得本来无法获得的享受。另一方面，我认为赠送者认为新房的功利色彩更浓，因此赠送的乐趣就会打折扣，而且无论新婚夫妇是否收到现金礼物，他们最终都会自己买房。”
沃德还在2016年研究了赠送结婚礼物与其他类型的礼物赠送之间的区别。她发现，一方面，如果赠送者需要选择购买礼物愿望清单中的礼物还是自己选择礼物时，他们往往就会拒绝礼物愿望清单。
沃德补充道：“事实证明，礼物赠送者表示他们最看重的是让接收者满意，但他们通常也会利用赠送礼物的机会，表达自己的情感或者用礼物代表关系的意义。”
宾客也可能会更慷慨地提供蜜月基金，因为他们可以送给接收人特定的体验，比如李表示，人们会赠送夕阳下的鸡尾酒会、丰盛的晚餐、底部是玻璃的小艇、浮潜或者阿尔卑斯山的滑雪缆车票等，但他们并不想为一笔巨额基金捐款，因为他们并不了解所赠送的礼物会产生什么影响。
李说：“这让新婚夫妇能够把蜜月基金进一步分成更小的部分，让每一位宾客都可以参与他们选择的每一种体验。新房基金看起来金额更大，这可能让客人从一开始就感到畏惧。但每一位宾客的出资，都将令新房基金变得更容易实现，会有更多的宾客更愿意为新婚夫妇的新房基金出资。”
房价暴涨推动了这种趋势
The Knot礼品与婚礼用品栏目的编辑凯瑟琳·海特曾经告诉《财富》杂志，虽然在婚礼礼品愿望清单中增加首套房基金的做法并不新鲜，但过去几年这种做法“真正流行起来”。据Zillow和The Knot统计，自2018年以来，新婚夫妇在婚礼礼品愿望清单中增加“住房基金”的比例增加了55%。
虽然在买房的时候每一笔钱都有帮助，但对新婚夫妇来说，几百美元可能只是九牛一毛。
彭德尔顿表示，目前美国普通住宅的房价约为350,000美元，这意味着一对夫妇如果计划支付20%的购房首付，他们就需要拿出70,000美元。相比之下，The Knot在 2022年的“真实婚礼研究”（Real Weddings Study）显示，美国一场婚礼的平均成本为30,000美元，包括结婚典礼和婚宴。
彭德尔顿称：“这是一大笔钱，对于正在计划购买第一套房的新婚夫妇而言是一笔巨额开支。首付比例通常完全能够低于20%，而且你的贷款专员会向你详细介绍各种选择。但要记住，首付越低，每月的还款额越高。”
《财富》杂志早在今年夏天的早些时候就报道了这种趋势，分享了奥利弗和卡西·尼尔森2012年在一家澳拜客牛排馆（Outback Steakhouse）邂逅的浪漫故事。当需要筹办婚礼和买房的时候，他们并没有意识到房地产市场已经变得多么糟糕，对于需要多少现金也毫无头绪。
奥利弗对《财富》杂志表示：“我们希望我大学一毕业就买房子。我们想买一套联排别墅，因为我们想有一个小院子用来养狗。但我们很快就意识到，特别是随着利率升高，我们不可能买得起联排别墅。”
最终，这对夫妇在奥利弗的父母家住了八个月，才攒够了买一套公寓的钱。为了帮助攒下买房的首付，这对夫妇在他们的婚礼礼品愿望清单中添加了“第一家园基金”，这是他们在清单里唯一的要求。
卡西告诉《财富》杂志：“老实说，这都得益于这个[第一家园基金]和他的父母允许我们与他们同住。否则我们不可能买得起房。我们可能终生都要租房住。”（财富中文网）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
随着抵押贷款利率维持在8%左右，而房价持续上涨，从千禧一代到Z世代，买房作为美国梦的基础，变得越来越遥不可及。
因此，Zillow和婚礼策划网站The Knot在今年10月的报告称，有五分之一订婚的夫妻为了凑首付，拒绝了传统婚礼礼品愿望清单中的床上用品和餐具，而是建议亲朋好友提供现金。
新婚夫妇的第一套房按照20%的首付比例计算，平均需要70,000美元首付，因此他们通过有创意的方式来凑首付的做法能够理解。
Zillow Home Loans的个人理财专家阿曼达·彭德尔顿对《财富》杂志表示：“我们可以乐观地看待这种现象，因为年轻夫妻并没有放弃买房，而是愿意为了更快实现买房的美国梦，放弃有形的结婚礼物甚至蜜月基金。他们看重的是为一项不断升值的资产储蓄的价值，而不是新床上用品或银制餐具带来的即时满足感。”
但有一个小问题：婚礼宾客似乎并不喜欢这种请求。数据显示，亲朋好友对新蜜月礼物愿望清单缺乏热情。
The Knot的副主编埃丝特·李告诉《财富》杂志，一对普通夫妻获得的蜜月基金平均为767美元，比556美元的平均新房基金多32%。
抵押贷款利率在今年秋季达到23年来的新高，而房价持续上涨，婚礼宾客为什么更愿意赠送蜜月礼物，也不愿意为新婚夫妇提供更实用的礼物，例如首套房基金？我们应该学一学专家们所说的行为经济学。
选择的力量
摩根·沃德是一流高校埃默里大学（Emory University）戈伊苏埃塔商学院（Goizueta Business School）的市场营销学教授。她表示，出现这种现象的原因，可能是人们喜欢将更多“享乐主义的”商品作为礼物，或者赠送接收人不会自己购买的商品。沃德拥有得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校（University of Texas at Austin）麦库姆斯商学院（McCombs School of Business）的市场营销专业博士学位，她的主要研究方向是消费者行为。她指出，赠送礼物的人知道，无论他们是否为首套房基金出资，接收礼物的人都会自行购买。
沃德对《财富》杂志表示：“赠送者可能认为蜜月基金是选择性的而且无疑是用于享乐的，因此，赠送者提供价值更高的礼物，能够让接收者获得本来无法获得的享受。另一方面，我认为赠送者认为新房的功利色彩更浓，因此赠送的乐趣就会打折扣，而且无论新婚夫妇是否收到现金礼物，他们最终都会自己买房。”
沃德还在2016年研究了赠送结婚礼物与其他类型的礼物赠送之间的区别。她发现，一方面，如果赠送者需要选择购买礼物愿望清单中的礼物还是自己选择礼物时，他们往往就会拒绝礼物愿望清单。
沃德补充道：“事实证明，礼物赠送者表示他们最看重的是让接收者满意，但他们通常也会利用赠送礼物的机会，表达自己的情感或者用礼物代表关系的意义。”
宾客也可能会更慷慨地提供蜜月基金，因为他们可以送给接收人特定的体验，比如李表示，人们会赠送夕阳下的鸡尾酒会、丰盛的晚餐、底部是玻璃的小艇、浮潜或者阿尔卑斯山的滑雪缆车票等，但他们并不想为一笔巨额基金捐款，因为他们并不了解所赠送的礼物会产生什么影响。
李说：“这让新婚夫妇能够把蜜月基金进一步分成更小的部分，让每一位宾客都可以参与他们选择的每一种体验。新房基金看起来金额更大，这可能让客人从一开始就感到畏惧。但每一位宾客的出资，都将令新房基金变得更容易实现，会有更多的宾客更愿意为新婚夫妇的新房基金出资。”
房价暴涨推动了这种趋势
The Knot礼品与婚礼用品栏目的编辑凯瑟琳·海特曾经告诉《财富》杂志，虽然在婚礼礼品愿望清单中增加首套房基金的做法并不新鲜，但过去几年这种做法“真正流行起来”。据Zillow和The Knot统计，自2018年以来，新婚夫妇在婚礼礼品愿望清单中增加“住房基金”的比例增加了55%。
虽然在买房的时候每一笔钱都有帮助，但对新婚夫妇来说，几百美元可能只是九牛一毛。
彭德尔顿表示，目前美国普通住宅的房价约为350,000美元，这意味着一对夫妇如果计划支付20%的购房首付，他们就需要拿出70,000美元。相比之下，The Knot在 2022年的“真实婚礼研究”（Real Weddings Study）显示，美国一场婚礼的平均成本为30,000美元，包括结婚典礼和婚宴。
彭德尔顿称：“这是一大笔钱，对于正在计划购买第一套房的新婚夫妇而言是一笔巨额开支。首付比例通常完全能够低于20%，而且你的贷款专员会向你详细介绍各种选择。但要记住，首付越低，每月的还款额越高。”
《财富》杂志早在今年夏天的早些时候就报道了这种趋势，分享了奥利弗和卡西·尼尔森2012年在一家澳拜客牛排馆（Outback Steakhouse）邂逅的浪漫故事。当需要筹办婚礼和买房的时候，他们并没有意识到房地产市场已经变得多么糟糕，对于需要多少现金也毫无头绪。
奥利弗对《财富》杂志表示：“我们希望我大学一毕业就买房子。我们想买一套联排别墅，因为我们想有一个小院子用来养狗。但我们很快就意识到，特别是随着利率升高，我们不可能买得起联排别墅。”
最终，这对夫妇在奥利弗的父母家住了八个月，才攒够了买一套公寓的钱。为了帮助攒下买房的首付，这对夫妇在他们的婚礼礼品愿望清单中添加了“第一家园基金”，这是他们在清单里唯一的要求。
卡西告诉《财富》杂志：“老实说，这都得益于这个[第一家园基金]和他的父母允许我们与他们同住。否则我们不可能买得起房。我们可能终生都要租房住。”（财富中文网）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
For millennials and Gen Z, the American Dream milestone of buying a home can feel hopelessly out of reach as mortgage rates hover around 8% and home prices continue to rise.
As a result, one in 5 engaged couples are rejecting the linens and dishes of traditional wedding registries and asking friends and family for down payment cash instead, according to an October report by Zillow and The Knot, a wedding planning site.
With an average of $70,000 needed for a 20% down payment on a starter home, it’s understandable that couples would search for creative ways to get cash.
“I think we can be optimistic that instead of throwing in the towel, young couples are willing to give up tangible gifts or even honeymoon funds in order to get closer to achieving the American Dream of homeownership,” Amanda Pendleton, a personal finance expert at Zillow Home Loans, tells Fortune. “They see the value of saving for an appreciating asset, as opposed to the immediate gratification of new bedding or silverware.”
But there’s a slight problem: It seems wedding guests are put off by this request, as data shows friends and family are less enthusiastic about the new breed of honeymoon registry.
The typical couple receives 32% more for a honeymoon fund, with an average of $767, compared with a new home fund average of $556, Esther Lee, deputy editor of The Knot, tells Fortune.
With mortgage rates hitting 23-year highs this fall and home prices on the rise, why would wedding guests be more willing to give to a honeymoon, than something more practical like a first-home fund? It’s time for a small lesson in what experts call behavioral economics.
The power of choice
Morgan Ward, a marketing professor at top-ranked Emory University’s Goizueta Business School says it could be because people like to give more “hedonic” products as gifts—or things that the recipient wouldn’t otherwise purchase for themselves. Ward earned her Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business and her primary research focus is consumer behavior. A gift-giver knows that whether or not they give to a first-home fund, the recipient will purchase it themselves, she says.
“A honeymoon fund is probably something that’s perceived by givers as elective—and certainly hedonic—and thus by giving a higher dollar gift, the giver can offer something the recipient wouldn’t otherwise have access to,” she tells Fortune. “On the other hand, I would guess that givers think of a new home as more utilitarian and thus, less fun to give and probably something that the recipients will purchase themselves irrespective of whether they receive money for it as a gift.”
Ward also conducted research in 2016 that shows how wedding gift-giving differs from other types of gift-giving. For one, she found that when givers were faced with purchasing from a gift registry versus making their own choices of a gift, they often rejected the gift registry.
“It turns out that givers say they want to please the recipient as their highest priority, but often they’re using gift-giving opportunities as a way to signal their sentiments or the meaning of the relationship,” Ward adds.
Guests may also be more generous toward a honeymoon fund because they can give to specific experiences—whether it’s sunset cocktails, a tasting menu at dinner, a glass-bottomed kayak, snorkeling, or a ski lift pass in the Alps, Lee says—instead of donating to one giant fund where they may not understand the impact of their gift.
“This allows couples to piecemeal their honeymoon fund even further, thus helping guests participate in each chosen experience,” Lee says. “The overall home fund is seemingly a more sizable amount that may seem daunting up front to guests. But with each contribution, a new home fund can become more approachable, with more guests potentially feeling more open to contributing.”
Soaring home prices fuel trend
While the trend of adding first-home funds to wedding registries isn’t completely new, “they’ve really picked up steam” in the past few years, Cathryn Haight, editor of gifting and stationery at The Knot, previously told Fortune. Since 2018, the share of couples including “home funds” as part of their wedding registry has increased 55%, according to Zillow and The Knot.
While any money is helpful when it comes to purchasing a home, hundreds of dollars could really just be a drop in the bucket for newlywed couples.
The value of the typical home in the U.S. right now is about $350,000, Pendleton says, which means a couple would need to come up with $70,000 if they plan on putting down 20% on the home purchase. By comparison, the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is $30,000 which includes the ceremony and reception, according to The Knot 2022 Real Weddings Study.
“This is a lot of cash and can be very intimidating for young couples looking to buy their first home,” Pendleton says. “Oftentimes, putting less than 20% down is totally doable, and your loan officer can talk you through your options. Keep in mind though, that the less money you put down, the higher your monthly mortgage payment will be.”
Fortune was early to report on this trend earlier this summer, sharing the love story of Oliver and Cassie Nilsson who first met in 2012 at an Outback Steakhouse. When it came time for them to wed and buy a house, they hadn’t realized exactly how bad the market had gotten and how much cash they’d need.
“Our expectation was as soon as I graduated college we would buy a house,” Oliver told Fortune. “We wanted to get a townhouse because we want a little yard for dogs. But we quickly realized that was not on the table for us, especially with the interest rate being so high.”
The couple ended up living with Oliver’s parents for eight months to save up enough money to afford to buy a condo. To help with the down payment on their home, the couple added a “first-home fund”—their one and only request on their wedding registry.
“Honest to God, it was this [the first-home fund] and his parents letting us stay there,” Cassie told Fortune. “We would have never been able [to buy]. We would have rented our whole life.”
