The Top 10 Cities for Millennial Homebuyers—Starting With Des Moines

A list of cities with the highest percentage of homebuyers described by the category of Millennial is conspicuously absent of expensive, coastal cities.

1 minute read

October 6, 2015, 8:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


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Jiri Flogel / Shutterstock

"Millennials are dominating the Des Moines housing market," according to an article by Patrick Clark, based on data from Realtor.com.

That is to say: "Roughly 60 percent of borrowers who used a mortgage to buy a home in Iowa’s capital city during the first half of 2015 were aged 25 to 34," which "compares with a national average of 37 percent, and makes Des Moines the most millennial-friendly city in the U.S."

The rest of the top 10, according to the same analysis is completely lacking of the cities famously know as Millennial hot spots—i.e., your New Yorks and your San Franciscos and your Washington, D.C.s.

Instead, Provo and Baton Rouge round out the top 3, followed by other cities from the South and Midwest. "Most of those cities don't enjoy reputations for being particularly hip. What they are, generally, is cheap—and probably a little hipper than they get credit for. That makes a difference as young homebuyers finally shake off the effects of the recession and enter the housing market," writes Clark, who adds more about why the data might be a positive sign for the first-time buyers segment of the housing market.

Monday, September 28, 2015 in Bloomberg Business

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