Personal Finance

The 13 US cities where young people are buying the most homes

Written by Catherine Rice; edited by Libby Kane

2017-03-22T17:53:52Z

shutterstock_150290084 — Cities in the midwest, such as Chicago (pictured here), Des Moines, Saint Louis and Minneapolis are popular and relatively affordable destinations for young homebuyers. Shutterstock

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As they get into their late 20s and 30s, more millennials are settling down, starting families, and buying homes.

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In fact, writes economist Mark Fleming on the First American Financial Center blog, millennials will be driving the demand for housing in the near future. Contrary to previous generations, however, they are staying in cities rather than buying houses in the suburbs or rural areas, according to research by think tank City Observatory, as reported by the New York Times.

Where are they going? A study by LendingTree, the online loan marketplace, analyzed 500,000 mortgage requests and offers from applications between August 2016 and February 2017 to find the cities with the highest percentages of mortgage applicants who are 35 or younger.

Below, we've listed the percentage of mortgage applications coming from the 35-and-under crowd, the average down payment supplied by those who are approved from that group, and the average mortgage amount these millennials take on.

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13. Denver, Colorado

denver neighborhood houses autumn — Denver, Colorado. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 43%

Average down payment: $50,306

Average mortgage: $284,967

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12. Grand Rapids, Michigan

shutterstock_362987003 — Grand Rapids, Michigan. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 43%

Average down payment: $19,058

Average mortgage: $170,486

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11. Wichita, Kansas

shutterstock_512948425 — Wichita, Kansas. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 44%

Average down payment: $18,956

Average mortgage: $170,462

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10. Omaha, Nebraska

shutterstock_27183652 — Omaha, Nebraska. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 44%

Average down payment: $29,637

Average mortgage: $192,215

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9. San Francisco, California

shutterstock_116755327 — San Francisco, California. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 44%

Average down payment: $160,400

Average mortgage: $528,760

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8. Chicago, Illinois

shutterstock_84639565 — Chicago, Illinois. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 44%

Average down payment: $59,480

Average mortgage: $273, 375

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7. Cincinnati, Ohio

shutterstock_404103445 — Cincinnati, Ohio. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 45%

Average down payment: $25,575

Average mortgage: $173,904

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6. Minneapolis, Minnesota

shutterstock_113821471 — Minneapolis, Minnesota. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 45%

Average down payment: $40,572

Average mortgage: $226,158

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5. Saint Louis, Missouri

shutterstock_114638545 — Saint Louis, Missouri. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 45%

Average down payment: $32,242

Average mortgage: $189,499

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4. Boston, Massachusetts

shutterstock_272171786 — Boston, Massachusetts. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 46%

Average down payment: $88,876

Average mortgage: $410,504

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3. Des Moines, Iowa

shutterstock_521732554 — Des Moines, Iowa. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 46%

Average down payment: $25,878

Average mortgage: $173,439

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2. Washington, DC

shutterstock_527729869 — Washington, DC. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 47%

Average down payment: $83,461

Average mortgage: $381,109

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1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

shutterstock_175816244 — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Shutterstock

Percentage of millennial homebuyers: 48%

Average down payment: $33,963

Average mortgage: $201,921

Editorial Intern, Strategy

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