Millennials turned from renters to homeowners in these markets
Explanation: This story has been updated to clarify that RentCafe found that there are more millennial homeowners than renters based on data looking at 260 U.S. metropolitan areas.
Skyrocketing house prices haven’t stopped millennials from buying property, so the cohort may finally transition to having a greater proportion of homeowners than renters, according to a new report from RentCafe.
RentCafe found that nearly 52% of millennials will own a home by 2022 based on data that looked at owner and renter households in 260 U.S. metropolitan areas.
The findings are based on data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, or IPUMS, part of the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation at the University of Minnesota.
According to RentCafe, the number of millennial homeowners in these areas has increased by 7 million in the past five years to 1[ads1]8.2 million in 2022, compared to 17.2 million renters.
Data from the Pew Research Center shows that there were more than 72 million millennials in the United States as of 2019, meaning that there are millions of millennials who are not included in these findings.
Despite the shift, baby boomers — those aged 59 to 77 this year — continue to dominate the housing market in these 32 million owner-occupied markets, according to the report. Gen Xers, who will be ages 43 to 58 this year, had more than 24 million homeowners in their ranks.
At what age do millennials buy homes?
Compared to previous generations, millennials, aged 27 to 42 this year, took longer to save enough to afford their first home.
When millennials became majority homeowners, their average age was 34. The average Gen Xer passed the benchmark at 32, while the average boomer was 33, according to RentCafe.
Millennials faced a number of challenges that stalled homeownership, including the Great Recession and student loan debt. But this generation has recently had a number of financial factors working in their favor and is “now in their prime home-buying years,” according to RentCafe.
The report also notes that many millennials delayed moving out or moved back in with their parents during the pandemic so they could save for a down payment. Others received financial help from family, friends, employers or an assistance program: A 2020 LendingTree survey found that nearly 60% of millennial homebuyers had down payment assistance.
Although millennials were able to increase their net worth during the COVID-19 pandemic, the generation has also faced wage stagnation, college costs that have increased more than 1,300% since 1978, and housing costs that have outpaced inflation—all of which have made it harder to buy housing without assistance.
What percentage of millennials are homeowners?
RentCafe also created rankings based on IPUMS data looking at the country’s 110 largest cities.
According to the findings, cities with some of the highest proportions of millennial owners compared to renters in 2022 include:
- Midland, Texas: 82%
- Provo, Utah: 76%
- Palm Bay, Florida: 75%
- Youngstown, Ohio: 74%
- Des Moines, Iowa: 73%
- Boise City, Idaho: 72%
- Portland, Maine: 72%
- North Port, Florida: 71%
- Columbia, South Carolina: 69%
- Greenville, South Carolina: 67%
And here are some of the cities with the smallest share of millennial homeowners:
- Salinas, California: 19%
- San Jose, California: 23%
- Asheville, North Carolina: 25%
- Chattanooga, Tennessee: 28%
- Los Angeles, California: 31%
- Sacramento, California: 32%
- San Diego, California: 32%
- Durham, North Carolina: 33%
- Urban Honolulu, Hawaii: 34%
- New York, New York: 34%
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