Besides college graduation, their first "real" job and their first new car, we can add another common milestone to the list for young single adults: buying a home.

More adults under 30 are entering the real-estate market, and many are doing it at ages uncommon a decade ago. And buyers are getting still younger as Generation Y joins in.

In 1995, people 25 and younger bought 172,000 homes nationally, said Walter Molony, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors. In 2005, that number jumped to 501,000.

"The children of the baby-boom generation — approximately 75 million (nationally) born between 1982 and 1995 — that generation is just entering the years in which people buy a first home," Molony said. "That's a strong fundamental factor for the next decade."

Couple that with low mortgage-interest rates, a healthy economy and rising employment, and the rate at which young people buy real estate will continue to grow, he said.

Although Seattle-area real estate is more expensive than ever — a tiny studio at the new NoMa Ballard condo building in Seattle, for example, starts at $180,000 — it's also more attractive than ever for young singles to buy, with cheaper conversions of apartments to condos, creative financing options and slick marketing campaigns aimed at them.

But there also is fear among young adults — and their parents — that they won't be able to afford real estate in the future.

Want to buy?

Here are some Web sites to help you decide whether you can afford to buy:

HUD Homebuying site: www.hud.gov/buying/index.cfm

Bankrate: www.bankrate.com

U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission: www.mymoney.gov/mymoney-info.shtml#home

Washington Homeownership Center: www.choc-wa.org

"There seems to be a lot more peer pressure, more parental pressure to buy at a younger age," said Warren Ballard, vice president of Williams Marketing, which sells new condos and conversions. "The attitude really has changed."

But just because more young adults are buying doesn't mean the purchase is easy.

Young buyers are making major compromises and using creative financing to buy their first homes — including recruiting roommates or siblings, borrowing from parents, sacrificing space and living in less-desirable neighborhoods.

Here's how a few local 20- and 30-somethings are pulling it off:

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com. com. Researcher Gene Balk contributed to this story.

Investing her savings — and then saving elsewhere

Dawn Wiggin, 27, decided she was ready to buy her own home only weeks before she signed the paperwork for a condo in NoMa Ballard.

When her roommate got engaged and made plans to move out, it seemed like a good time to invest the money she had saved since childhood.

When she signed the final papers, she was so happy, she cried. She said she felt empowered by the purchase.

"It's fun to know I'll have bought when I was single and could do it myself," she said. "I'm of the 'independent woman' philosophy."

But the 475-square-foot condo, priced in the low $200s, will be tough financially. The mortgage is $700 more per month than the one-bedroom apartment she's currently renting until her condo is finished this fall.

Until she bought her condo, Wiggin, a program manager, had extra spending money to travel and meet up with friends for happy hour. She also treated herself to a big vacation every year and took lots of weekend trips.

But the mortgage will require her to cut back. She's considering a cash-only system to avoid spending too much; limiting shopping to one big item a month, like a pair of jeans or a dress; and figuring out a low-maintenance hairstyle. She also plans to limit weekend trips and will throw dinner parties at home instead of going out with friends.

"It's going to be a challenge," Wiggin acknowledged. "I'll be paying a lot more, but it'll be fine. It'll be a great investment."

She still has several months for it to all sink in. And, she reasons, she would never save the extra $700 a month that will go to the mortgage, anyway.

"I'm just pretending I'm saving it," she said.

My brother, my co-buyer

A year ago, Matt Parker, 27, and his 24-year-old brother Sean Parker talked once a month or so. These days, however, they share a 900-square-foot space and bicker over the washing machine.

The brothers were looking for housing at the same time last year when Matt suggested they combine resources and buy a place together. That way they could invest in a nicer house and still live with a roommate they trusted.

"I know I can count on my brother," Matt Parker said. "I know there's a level of decency, and I know his ethics 100 percent."

They initially looked for a place that cost less than $200,000 but increased their maximum to $250,000 to buy their two-bedroom home in the Normandy Park-Burien area. The home is a convenient drive to Matt Parker's office in Burien and to Sean Parker's human-resources job in Tukwila.

Matt Parker, a real-estate agent, can reel off several reasons to buy young — among them, when you rent, "you're just making rich people richer." The brothers have found they have more flexibility with personal finances now that they split the mortgage and house expenses.

While the Parkers have bonded over their home, their relationship is still more brother than best friend, Sean Parker said.

"I knew it'd be difficult, but we're only in the house maybe two or three hours a night when we're awake together," Sean Parker said. "I honestly expected it to be a little more difficult."

Big help from the parents — and a little less shopping

Thirty-one-year-old April Schiffman's two younger sisters already own condos, and her parents felt it was time for her to do the same. They provided the financial push, offering her a down payment as long as she paid her own mortgage.

Mary Jo and Greg Schiffman accompanied their daughter recently on a tour of places for sale. She settled on a one-bedroom condo in the NoMa Ballard building.

"For a long time, we struggled to get a first place," Greg Schiffman said. "Saving for the down payment for the first one can take a very long time."

He and his wife decided about five years ago to start saving to give their three daughters down payments for new homes. They wanted to help them get a start financially, said Greg Schiffman, who works in biotechnology.

They have given their daughters down payments averaging about 20 percent, depending on each daughter's financial situation and her ability to pay a mortgage.

But the purchase has made April Schiffman, a Web designer, a bit anxious.

"It's a lot of responsibility," she said. "It's not like an apartment, and you can give 30 days' notice and move out. You've got to make those payments."

Schiffman's mortgage is roughly the same as the rent for the apartment she's been living in, so she already has practiced accommodating a $1,700-a-month payment.

But shopping is a favorite activity, so she already has pared down her habits, limiting herself on pricey items.

"I'm trying to buy what I need," she said. "If I have 30 pairs of jeans, I don't need another pair."

She also takes her lunch to work now and makes dinner more often at home instead of eating out.

But she admits it will be hard to manage a mortgage alone.

"There's no one to turn to and say, 'Hey, somebody help,' " she said.

Her anxiety has subsided a bit since she signed the final paperwork. She plans to live in the 700-square-foot condo for at least two years, maybe more.

And she knows once she is settled into her place, the budgeting will be worth it.

"At that point, it'll be such a habit, I'll feel better [knowing] I have something and am building equity."

Saving up, and staying in

Taylor Halverson, 26, bought at a time in his life when many young adults don't even know what career they're headed for.

He bought his 580-square-foot Belltown loft two years ago with money he had saved. With a steady job, he saw the purchase as an investment.

"You're not paying money for nothing, i.e. rent," he said. "At the same time, you're investing in something that gives you a reasonable return."

Halverson, who works in global trade at Boeing, has friends whose future careers are less certain, so renting makes more sense for them, he said. His mortgage is $400 more than his last rental, but Halverson was cautious about how much he could afford.

"You can put everything you have into your home and that's it, or nothing into your home — or you can find a balance between that and being able to do other stuff, like getting drinks," he said. "I feel like I'm in the balance stage."

The mortgage for the condo (around $200,000) has forced him to cut back on little expenses, like picking up breakfast on the way to work and buying lunch. Costs like those add up, he said.

So now Halverson resists buying new basketball shoes, and he invites friends over to watch sports instead of going out to bars as often.

"It sucks, but it's helpful to do in terms of saving money," he said.

He compares having a mortgage to dieting — it takes discipline and a lot of responsibility, he said.

While Halverson was among the first of his friends to buy a place, he said he didn't feel any pressure. Still, when asked what prompted him to buy at such a young age, he responded:

"Is 25 young?"

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