Dive Brief:

•  Builders targeting millennial homebuyers might do well to direct at least some of their marketing efforts toward those young adults’ parents. A report from loanDepot last week revealed that among millennials who want to buy homes, 17% have parents who expect to chip in—up from 13% five years ago.

• Half of those parents will contribute toward down payments; 20% will cover closing costs, and one in five will cosign for the mortgage loan.

• More than two-thirds said they will use their savings to help out their kids rather than apply for loans themselves, down from 72% in the last survey. Of  parents who said they will borrow money, 8% expect to refinance their own homes, and 8% will take out personal loans.

Dive Insight:

The Bank of Mom and Dad isn’t just helping their children when they pitch in toward new home costs; they’re helping the housing market recover, noted Dave Norris, president and chief operations officer of loanDepot. “Without that financial support, it’s likely the pool of millennial first-time homebuyers would be even smaller than today.”

Still, some of the parents would rather help their kids in ways that don’t involve pitching in for the house. One in three, for example, expect to help their adult children pay other expenses so they can save their own money for down payments; 18% are willing to help pay off student loans; and more than half expect their grown children to move back in with them so they can save money for their first homes.