Clarification: This story has been updated to make clear that RentCafe found that there are more millennial homeowners than renters based on data looking at 260 U.S. metropolitan areas.
Skyrocketing home prices haven’t stopped millennials from buying real estate, allowing the cohort to finally switch over to having a greater share of homeowners than renters, according to a new report from RentCafe.
RentCafe found nearly 52% of millennials owned a home in 2022 based on data looking at owner and renter households across 260 U.S. metropolitan areas.
The findings are based on data from 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 jumped by 7 million over the past five years to 18.2 million in 2022, compared with 17.2 million renters.
Data from Pew Research Center shows there were more than 72 million millennials in the U.S. as of 2019, which means there are millions of millennials not accounted for in these findings.
Despite the shift, baby boomers – those ages 59 to 77 this year – continue to dominate the housing market in these markets with 32 million owners, according to the report.Gen Xers, who turn 43 to 58 this year, had more than 24 million homeowners in their ranks.
At what age are millennials buying homes?
Compared with previous generations, it took millennials, ages 27 to 42 this year, longer to save enough to afford their first home.
When millennials became majority homeowners, their average age was 34. The average Gen Xers 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 more recently had a number of economic factors working in their favor and are “now in their prime homebuying years,” according to RentCafe.
The report also notes that many millennials delayed moving out or moved back in with their parents during the pandemic, allowing them to save for a down payment. Others received financial support from family, friends, employers or an assistance program: A 2020 survey from LendingTree found nearly 60% of millennial homebuyers had help with their down payment.
Though millennials were able to grow their net worth during the COVID-19 pandemic, the generation also has faced wage stagnation, college tuition costs that have increased more than 1,300% since 1978, and housing costs that have outpaced inflation – all of which has made buying a home without assistance more difficult.
What percentage of millennials are homeowners?
RentCafe also created rankings based on IPUMS data looking at the nation’s 110 largest metropolitans.
According to the findings, cities with some of the highest shares of millennial owners compared with 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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