![Most Popular Cities for Gen Z Homebuyers [New LendingTree Report]](https://realtytimes.com/images/k2/f930f9c8be73b6950f0cb5a88323a27a.jpg)
Gen Z adults (ages 18 to 27 in 2024) are the most recent generation to enter the homebuying market.
But where are they buying? To answer that, LendingTree analyzed mortgage purchase requests from adult Gen Z users of the LendingTree platform across the nation’s 50 largest metros in 2024. Here’s what we found.
- Grand Rapids, Michigan has the largest share of mortgage requests from Gen Zers—nearly a third (31.45%) of mortgage requests there come from Gen Z. Salt Lake City (24.79%) and Milwaukee (24.33%) follow.
- San Francisco (9.68%) is the only big metro where Gen Zers account for less than 10.00% of requests. San Jose, Calif. (11.31%), and Las Vegas (12.07%) follow.
- Potential Gen Z homebuyers have average credit scores above 700 in just two metros. Those two are San Francisco and San Jose, each at 705. Meanwhile, the lowest average among potential Gen Z homebuyers is 666 — nearly 40 points lower.
- Average down payments differ by as much as $150,000. Down payments among potential Gen Z homebuyers range from an average of $181,350 in San Jose to $29,916 in Pittsburgh.
You can check out the full report and city rankings here: https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/the-most-popular-us-cities-for-gen-z-homebuyers-ranked/
LendingTree's Chief Consumer Finance Analyst, Matt Schulz, had this to say:
"Grand Rapids and Milwaukee are relatively average cost-of-living areas where homeownership may not be out of the question for younger people. Salt Lake City, on the other hand, isn’t as affordable, but it has seen its young population explode in size in recent years, thanks in part to a thriving tech scene and booming economy. That economic growth has helped many young people in the area flourish economically to where they can afford to buy a house and put down roots in the area.”
