Where Did Millennials Buy in 2018?

Lending Tree, an online lending exchange that connects consumers with multiple lenders, banks and credit partners, just released its latest findings on where Millennials bought homes in 2018. Lending Tree analyzed its new purchase mortgage requests between January 1, 2018 and November 25,2018 to determine Millennials’s favorite cities. (Nearly 25% of all new purchase mortgage requests came from consumers under the age of 35.)

Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh led the pack in terms of the largest percentage of purchase requests from Millennials within the 50 largest metros across the country. Here’s how they stacked up:

• Salt Lake City – 51% of all purchase requests with an average loan amount of $234,391.
• Minneapolis – 48% of all purchase requests with an average loan amount of $200,935.
• Pittsburgh – 48% of all purchase requests with an average loan amount of $128,316.

Tampa, Las Vegas and Miami were at the bottom of Millennial requests for new purchase mortgages within the 50 largest metros. Here’s how they fared:

• Tampa – 30% of all purchase requests with an average loan amount of $174,301.
• Las Vegas – 31% of all purchase requests with an average loan amount of $224,736.
• Miami – 32% of all purchase requests with an average loan amount of $225,536.

Millennials waited the longest to buy homes in San Francisco, San Jose and New York City. The average age of Millennial buyers in these cities was 29.6 years compared to the overall average age of 28.7 years. Millennial buyers in these three cities also averaged the highest credit scores, 704+, compared with the overall average credit score of 656.

Salt Lake City, Louisville and Cincinnati had the youngest average age of Millennial buyers, 28 years. And Millennial buyers in Memphis, Birmingham and New Orleans averaged the lowest credit scores within the nation’s 50 largest metros. Those credit scores came in at 622,629 and 634 respectively.

Here are the Top 10 Most Popular Cities among Millennial Buyers in 2018:

1. Salt Lake City – 51% of population with an average age of 28
2. Minneapolis – 48% of the population with an average age of 28.5
3. Pittsburgh – 48% of the population with an average age of 28.4
4. Buffalo – 46% of the population with an average age of 28.4
5. Denver – 45% of the population with an average age of 28.9
6. Louis – 45% of the population with an average age of 28.5
7. Kansas City – 45% of the population with an average age of 28.5
8. Columbus – 44% of the population with an average age of 28.4
9. Rochester – 44% of the population with an average age of 28.4
10. Cincinnati – 43% of the population with an average age of 28.1

Millennials also bought homes in other hot spots around the country but their percentage of the population is not as high as in the top 10 cities above. Check out these data points:

San Jose – 43% of the population with an average age of 29.6

Seattle – 43% of the population with an average age of 29

Houston – 39% of the population with an average age of 28.8

Austin – 39% of the population with an average age of 28.9

Dallas – 39% of the population with an average age of 28.8

San Francisco – 39% of the population with an average age of 29.8Portland – 37% of the population with an average age of 28.9

Los Angeles – 37% of the population with an average age of 29.3

New York City – 37% of the population with an average age of 29.4