WASHINGTON–Millennial homebuyers are moving to the heartland of the U.S. to make purchases, according to Ellie Mae’s “Millennial Tracker” data.
Ellie Mae said Millennials are moving to markets where homes are more affordable, with Mount Vernon, Ill., the most popular metropolitan area for housing purchased by Millennials. Millennials are also moving to Hutchinson, Kan.; New Philadelphia-Dover, Ohio; Defiance, Ohio; Dickinson, N.D.; Owosso, Mich.; Ashland, Ohio. To the south, two Texas cities, Midland and Odessa, are also popular.
“What this data shows is where there is an inventory of affordable homes, the Millennial buyers are ready to enter the market,” said Joe Tyrrell, executive vice president of corporate strategy for Ellie Mae, in a statement. “We expect to see this trend continue as average FICO scores decline and affordable loan options become more available to Millennial homebuyers.”
According to Ellie Mae, the Millennial Tracker shows that a little over half of Millennial borrowers were married, at 51%. The average age of these Millennial buyers was 29.5 years old, and Ellie Mae found that mostly men were listed as the primary borrower, at 65%, compared to 32% of women.