Fresno saw a 104% increase in millennial homeowner households over a five-year period, RentCafe says.
Konstantin Postumitenko
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More millennials are buying homes — and Fresno has emerged as one of their favorite spots to settle down.
Fresno ranked among the U.S. metropolitan areas that saw the biggest boosts in millennial homeowners in recent years, according to a new study by RentCafe.
The apartment search platform analyzed more than 100 metropolitan areas across the United States to determine which saw the most significant gains in millennial homeowners and renters.
“Millennials …. now clearly show a preference for certain homebuying hotspots,” Alexandra Both, senior real estate writer and research analyst with RentCafe, wrote in a July 15 article.
Here’s where millennials are purchasing property, and why:
Approximately 5.3 million millennials became homeowners in the United States between 2018 and 2023, according to RentCafe. ToucanStudios Getty Images How many millennials own homes in the US? Rent?
Homeownership is a goal shared by a growing number of millennials, defined by the Pew Research Center as people born between 1981 and 1996.
Nationwide, approximately 5.3 million millennials became homeowners between 2018 and 2023, bringing the total to 12.4 million households, according to RentCafe.
That marked a 74% increase in millennial-owned households across the United States.
Millennial homeowners now outnumber renters in about three out of four metro areas favored by Generation Y, RentCafe said.
However, millennial homeowners have yet to completely outnumber millenial renters, who account for nearly 12.6 million households in the nation.
The number of millennial renters in the United States rose by 5% from 2018 to 2023, RentCafe found, an increase of roughly 600,000 households.
Fresno saw a 104% increase in millennial homeownership over a five-year period, RentCafe says. John Bazemore Associated Press file How much did millennial homeownership increase in Fresno?
According to the RentCafe study, Fresno saw a 104% increase in millennial homeownership over a five-year period.
It ranked 12th in the nation in terms of metro areas with the biggest spikes in millennials buying homes.
In Fresno, the number of millennial homeowner households increased from 24,384 in 2018 to 49,742 in 2023, the study found.
Two other Central Valley cities saw big increases in millennial homeownership during the same five-year period.
Stockton ranked fourth in the nation in terms of millennial homeownership growth, while Oxnard was fifth.
According to the study, Stockton saw a 117.6% surge in millennial owner households from 2018 to 2023, growing from 17,333 Gen Y homeowners to 37,711.
During the same five-year period, millennial homeownership in Oxnard increased by 113.9%. There were 29,607 households owened by millennials in 2023, RentCafe said.
Why are millennials buying more homes in California?
According to RentCafe, small and mid-sized cities in California and Florida saw the most significant increases in millennials buying homes.
“What do all of these places have in common?” Both asked. “More affordable home prices, manageable inflation, strong income growth and a higher quality of life.”
Smaller metro areas also benefited from COVID-19 pandemic-driven migration patterns, RentCafe said, as millennials moved away from major cities in search of remote work opportunities and more physical space.
According to Veronica Grecu, a senior writer and research analyst at RentCafe, homeownership is on the rise among older members of Generation Y.
“Many younger millennials had previously delayed buying a home due to student debt and high costs,” she said. “Now they’re finding options that fit their budgets in a handful of affordable oases, like Stockton and Fresno, where housing costs are below the state average.”
As of July 31, the average Fresno home was valued at $390,993, according to the latest data available from real estate platform Zillow.
The average monthly rent in Fresno was $1,500 over all housing types, Zillow said.
How many millennial renters live in Fresno?
According to RentCafe, Fresno ranked among the 20 metro areas with the largest shares of millennial renters in 2023, landing at No. 18.
Los Angeles had the highest share of millennial renters that year: 70.1%.
“The highest concentrations of millennial renters remain in coastal powerhouses …. where soaring home prices and limited housing supply continue to outpace even strong income growth,” Both said.
Fresno ranked No. 18 on RentCare’s list of the cities with the biggest increases in millennial renters between 2018 and 2023.
According to the study, millennials accounted for 52.2% of renters in Fresno in 2023.
That year, the Central Valley city had 54,343 millennial renter households in 2023, reflecting a slight increase from 54,096 households in 2018.
Which US cities saw biggest increases in millennial homeowners?
According to RentCafe, these U.S. cities saw the largest increases in millennial homeowners from 2018 to 2023:
North Port, FloridaLakeland, FloridaJacksonville, FloridaStocktonOxnardPalm Bay, FloridaAustin, TexasTucson, ArizonaDeltona, FloridaSan Antonio, TexasHow did RentCafe rank top markets for millennials?
To better understand millennial renting and homeownership trends, RentCafe said it analyzed 107 metro areas with the largest millennial household populations.
It focused on metropolitan areas with 50,000 or more millennial households in 2023.
RentCafe sourced ownership and rentership data, along with millennial income growth figures, from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.
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Gagandeep Singh is a service journalism reporter for The Fresno Bee. He holds a master’s degree in politics and global affairs from Columbia University. Prior to working at The Bee, he worked as a freelancer for CalMatters, BBC News and the Los Angeles Times. He focuses on migration, education, criminal justice and the South Asian diaspora in California.