Where Gen Z Buyers are Headed
LendingTree reports that more and more Gen Z home buyers are purchasing homes in Salt Lake City, Utah as the city had the highest amount of bids from those within Gen Z. Nearly 23% of the area’s mortgage requests on the Lending Tree platform come from adult members of the generation; so those within their early to mid-twenties.
According to Yahoo Finance, Gen Zers are shying away from putting down roots in more expensive cities such as San Francisco and San Jose, California; and New York City. Those areas received the smallest share of mortgage requests from Gen Zers, according to LendingTree, which analyzed requests made from January through December 2022.
While those cities appeal to younger adults, they’re simply unaffordable for those who have only recently begun their careers and have little in savings.
All in all, six of the 10 least popular metros for aspiring Gen Z homeowners are in California.
Many cities in California and places like New York and Washington, D.C., are really expensive parts of the country so although there are lots of 23-year-olds that would love to buy a house in San Francisco or Brooklyn, the truth of the matter is it’s really expensive.” – Jacob Channel, LendingTree Senior Economist
“Younger people are in a situation where mortgage rates are high, home prices are high, and they haven’t had careers for very long so they don’t have as much savings,” Jacob Channel says.
To be sure, even contemplating purchasing one’s first home is a distant dream for many Gen Zers. Channel noted that he suspects many of Gen Zers’ mortgage applications are coming from wealthier members of the demographic
