The 10 US cities where the most 20-somethings are buying homes

Business Insider ^ | 03/18/2016 | Kathleen Elkins

[SeekAndFind]

According to a new study released by online loan marketplace LendingTree, more young people are pursuing home ownership.

"The under-35 crowd had been, for some years, hesitant to enter the housing market, but we're seeing that start to shift," said Doug Lebda, CEO of LendingTree, in a press release. "The data all points to the fact that millennials are increasingly eager to own rather than rent, and even the incredibly high real estate prices in some markets don't necessarily deter them."

Case in point: Boston, one of the priciest cities to buy a home, topped LendingTree's ranking, which was created by looking at the percentage of home-loan requests being made by people under 35 in 59 major US cities.

Here, we've highlighted the cities that cracked the top 10, the average age of these young buyers, and the average down payment and monthly payment they're making, all from LendingTree.

10. Rochester, New York

Average age of buyer: 30

Average down payment: $24,600

Average monthly payment: $790

Percentage of mortgage requests from borrowers under 35: 44.5%

9. Omaha, Nebraska

Average age of buyer: 28

Average down payment: $21,400

Average monthly payment: $1,030

Percentage of mortgage requests from borrowers under 35: 44.6%

8. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Average age of buyer: 29

Average down payment: $22,500

Average monthly payment: $960

Percentage of mortgage requests from borrowers under 35: 45.1%

7. Chicago, Illinois

Average age of buyer: 30

Average down payment: $44,600

Average monthly payment: $1,480

Percentage of mortgage requests from borrowers under 35: 45.5%

6. Columbus, Ohio

Average age of buyer: 29

Average down payment: $26,200

Average monthly payment: $970

Percentage of mortgage requests from borrowers under 35: 45.6%

5. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Average age of buyer: 29

Average down payment: $28,700

Average monthly payment: $1,140

Percentage of mortgage requests from borrowers under 35: 47.3%

[MichaelCorleone]

Last I saw/heard, multitudes were moving to the Carolina’s, Florida, SC, Texas and Oregon.

Most of this is north of the Mason-Dixon line. Pendulum swinging the other way?

[Organic Panic]

I would love to see analysis in to the choices these 20 somethings have made in regards to college and work. I would predict the buyers are engineering majors, architect types, or skipped college all together and learned trades like plumbing or machining judging by the locations. I also suspect they have young families and go to church. I don’t picture BLM activists and social studies majors are buying.

Bought my first house at 29 for $40,000. River front which turned out to be one of the hottest markets in the country. 4 years after the city “condemned” it under eminent domain for a park. OOPS. Turned out they didn’t really ‘want’ it for a park after all and sold it for a huge huge profit to privateers. That happened right when the bubble was inflating so there was no way I could afford anything in town for what they gave me so away I went. Hooray for government.

I hope none of these first time home buyers have to go through that.

[DonaldC]

Those are serious down payments.

[Pelham]

What city was that in?

[Original Lurker]

My first thought, too.

[chopperman]

Have you any idea where the Mason-Dixon line is?

[chopperman]

Excuse my previous comment. I misinterpreted what you were saying.

[Bernard]

Average down payment in dollars is a nice number, but showing that along with the percentage of the total purchase price would provide better information.

And $1,480 for the average mortgage payment in Chicago? I thought that would cover real estate taxes and insurance escrow, but not the P&I. Again, without the purchase price these are a lot of statistics. One step above statistics assembled by somebody looking for a government grant.

[Tax-chick]

I think some of this data reflects the fact that housing prices are way down in some areas of the north and Midwest. The market factors that make this a good place for young adults to buy mean that the sellers (older, wanting to move South) are taking a hit and having to scale back their expectations when they buy in Florida or Georgia.