LendingTree Study Finds Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh Are Most Popular Cities for Millennial Homebuyers

Released December 19, 2018

By Megan Greuling

https://www.lendingtree.com/2018/12/lendingtree-study-finds-salt-lake-city-minneapolis-and-pittsburgh-are-most-popular-cities-for-millennial-homebuyers/

LendingTree®, the nation’s leading online loan marketplace, today released its study on the most popular cities for millennial homebuyers.

To determine where millennials are buying homes, LendingTree analyzed new purchase mortgage requests made on LendingTree.com between Jan. 1, 2018 and Nov. 25, 2018. The study revealed that nearly one-fourth of all mortgage purchase requests in this period came from millennials, and millennials in Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh were more likely to be pursuing homeownership than any of the nation’s other 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Key findings

Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh are the metros where millennials are making up the largest percentage of purchase requests. In Salt Lake City, a majority of the total purchase requests in the area, 51 percent, come from millennials. In Minneapolis and Pittsburgh, 48 percent come from millennials.
In Tampa, Fla., Las Vegas and Miami, millennials are making the least purchase requests. Only 30 percent of purchase requests came from people under 35 in Tampa. That number was only slightly higher in Las Vegas and Miami, where 31 percent and 32 percent of purchase requests came from those under 35.
San Francisco, San Jose, Calif. and New York are where millennials wait the longest to buy homes. The average age for these three areas was 29.6 years old. This compares with an average of 28.7 years old across the remaining 47 largest metros in the U.S.
Salt Lake City, Louisville, Ky. and Cincinnati are the metros with the lowest average age of buyers under 35. In each of these areas, the average age for potential millennial homebuyers is around 28 years old.
San Jose, Calif., San Francisco and New York are the places where millennials had the highest average credit scores. In each of these areas, the average millennial homebuyer had a credit score higher than 704. By comparison, the average credit score for millennial homebuyers across the 50 largest MSAs in the country was 656.
Memphis, Tenn., Birmingham, Ala. and New Orleans are where millennials had the lowest average credit scores. Credit scores in these three areas were 622, 629 and 634 respectively.

Most popular cities among millennial homebuyers

Salt Lake City
Share of Purchase Mortgage Requests Coming from Millennials: 51%
Average Requested Loan Amount: $234,391

Minneapolis
Share of Purchase Mortgage Requests Coming from Millennials: 48%
Average Requested Loan Amount: $200,930

Pittsburgh
Share of Purchase Mortgage Requests Coming from Millennials: 48%
Average Requested Loan Amount: $128,316

Least popular cities among millennial homebuyers

Tampa, Fla.
Share of Purchase Mortgage Requests Coming from Millennials: 30%
Average Requested Loan Amount: $174,301

Las Vegas
Share of Purchase Mortgage Requests Coming from Millennials: 31%
Average Requested Loan Amount: $224,736

Miami
Share of Purchase Mortgage Requests Coming from Millennials: 32%
Average Requested Loan Amount: $225,536

To view the full report, visit www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/most-popular-cities-millennial-homebuyers.

50 Largest Metros Ranked by Millennial Homebuying Popularity
Rank	Metro	Population 2017	% of purchase requests from (<35)	Average age of buyers (<35)
1	Salt Lake City	1,203,105	51%	28
2	Minneapolis	3,600,618	48%	28.5
3	Pittsburgh	2,333,367	48%	28.4
4	Buffalo, N.Y.	1,136,856	46%	28.4
5	Denver	2,888,227	45%	28.9
6	St. Louis	2,807,338	45%	28.5
7	Kansas City, Mo.	2,128,912	45%	28.5
8	Columbus, Ohio	2,078,725	44%	28.4
9	Rochester, N.Y.	1,077,948	44%	28.4
10	Cincinnati	2,179,082	43%	28.2
11	Milwaukee	1,576,236	43%	28.7
12	Indianapolis	2,028,614	43%	28.2
13	Detroit	4,313,002	43%	28.3
14	Cleveland	2,058,844	43%	28.4
15	San Jose, Calif.	1,998,463	43%	29.6
16	Seattle	3,867,046	43%	29
17	Boston	4,836,531	42%	29
18	Hartford, Conn.	1,210,259	42%	28.7
19	Oklahoma City	1,383,737	42%	28.2
20	Providence, R.I.	1,621,122	42%	28.7
21	Nashville, Tenn.	1,903,045	42%	28.4
22	Philadelphia	6,096,120	42%	28.9
23	Chicago	9,533,040	42%	28.9
24	Louisville, Ky.	1,293,953	41%	28.2
25	Birmingham, Ala.	1,149,807	40%	28.4
26	Washington	6,216,589	40%	29.2
27	Richmond, Va.	1,294,204	40%	28.8
28	Baltimore	2,808,175	40%	29
29	Houston	6,892,427	39%	28.8
30	Austin, Texas	2,115,827	39%	28.9
31	Dallas	7,399,662	39%	28.8
32	San Francisco	4,727,357	39%	29.8
33	New Orleans	1,275,762	39%	28.8
34	Virginia Beach, Va.	1,725,246	38%	28.6
35	Charlotte, N.C.	2,525,305	38%	28.7
36	Portland, Ore.	2,453,168	38%	28.7
37	Raleigh, N.C.	1,335,079	38%	28.8
38	Phoenix	4,737,270	37%	28.4
39	Memphis, Tenn.	1,348,260	37%	28.9
40	Los Angeles	13,353,907	37%	29.3
41	Atlanta	5,884,736	37%	28.9
42	Riverside, Calif.	4,580,670	37%	28.9
43	New York	20,320,876	37%	29.4
44	Jacksonville, Fla.	1,504,980	36%	28.7
45	Sacramento, Calif.	2,324,884	35%	29.1
46	San Diego	3,337,685	35%	29.2
47	Orlando, Fla.	2,509,831	34%	28.7
48	Miami	6,158,824	32%	29.1
49	Las Vegas	2,204,079	31%	28.8
50	Tampa, Fla.	3,091,399	30%	28.7

About LendingTree
LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE) is the nation’s leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. LendingTree empowers consumers to shop for financial services the same way they would shop for airline tickets or hotel stays, comparing multiple offers from a nationwide network of over 500 partners in one simple search, and can choose the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, auto loans, personal loans, business loans, student refinances, credit cards and more. Through the My LendingTree platform, consumers receive free credit scores, credit monitoring and recommendations to improve credit health. My LendingTree proactively compares consumers’ credit accounts against offers on our network, and notifies consumers when there is an opportunity to save money. In short, LendingTree’s purpose is to help simplify financial decisions for life’s meaningful moments through choice, education and support. LendingTree, LLC is a subsidiary of LendingTree, Inc. For more information, go to www.lendingtree.com, dial 800-555-TREE, like our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter @LendingTree.