Millennials shifting to Utah for houses, with this metropolis among the many prime 10 in nation
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – As the housing boom continues throughout the Beehive State, homebuyers, especially millennial ones, seem to be flocking to Utah.
A new study by LendingTree shows Salt Lake City is the sixth most popular choice for young homebuyers today.
“Millennials make up the largest group of homebuyers in the US, ahead of older (and richer) Gen Xers and baby boomers,” the report found. “And while the COVID-19 pandemic has doubtlessly put some millennials’ homebuying plans on the back burner, plenty are still actively engaging in the housing market.”
Millennials are defined as people born between 1981 through 1996, according to the Pew Research Center.
To determine the most popular cities, the study analyzed around 480,000 mortgage offers presented to millennial borrowers across the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas. The data tracked numbers from Jan. 2021 to Dec. 2021
UTAH SAFETY: This Utah town is the safest small town in the state, study finds
The most popular cities this past year are Denver, Seattle, and Boston with each seeing over 60% of mortgages being offered to millennials.
Salt Lake City saw 58.8% of new mortgages being offered to millennials, with an average buyer age of 31.72 years old. The average credit score was 729 and the average down payment was $57,120.
The cities millennials are flocking to the least? Florida.
Miami, Jacksonville, Fla., and Tampa, Fla. all reported the lowest percentages of millennial mortgages. Famously known as a retired destination, this may explain the lackluster appeal to younger buyers.
The oldest millennial homebuyers were located in San Francisco, New York, and San Jose, Calif. hitting an average age of 33.51 years old. These areas are more expensive, which may explain the older age range.
CLOSER LOOK: Most expensive and most affordable zip codes on the Wasatch Front
Buyers with the highest average credit scores chose San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., and San Diego. The average credit score among these buyers is 733. Millennials reporting the lowest credit scores chose towns such as Memphis, Tenn., Birmingham, Ala., and Virginia Beach, Va. with an average 702.
Areas such as San Jose, Calif., San Francisco and Seattle required the largest average down payments for buyers — around $104,896.
To check out the full homebuying study for millennials, click here
