Raleigh, Charlotte rank low for millennial homebuyers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Apparently, millennials aren’t flocking to the Triangle to set up shop.

Raleigh only ranked 37 out of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas when it comes to the most popular cities for millennial homebuyers, according to a new study released by LendingTree, the online lending platform headquartered in Charlotte.

Only 38 percent of purchase requests came from people under 35 in Raleigh, with the average requested loan amount $200,195. The average age was 28.8 years old with the average credit score of 671.

Charlotte only faired slightly better, ranking 35 with the average requested loan amount $180,733. The average age was 28.7 years old with the average credit score of 649.

Instead, cities like Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh came out on top as metros where millennials are more likely to be pursuing homeownership.

To determine where millennials are buying homes, LendingTree analyzed new purchase mortgage requests made on LendingTree.com between Jan. 1, 2018 and Nov. 25, 2018.

It revealed that nearly one-fourth of all mortgage purchase requests in this period came from millennials.

Other key findings included:

In Salt Lake City, a majority of the total purchase requests in the area, 51 percent, come from millennials. In Minneapolis and Pittsburgh, 48 percent come from millennials.
In Tampa, Fla., Las Vegas and Miami, millennials are making the least purchase requests. Only 30 percent of purchase requests came from people under 35 in Tampa. That number was only slightly higher in Las Vegas and Miami, where 31 percent and 32 percent of purchase requests came from those under 35.
San Francisco, San Jose, Calif. and New York are where millennials wait the longest to buy homes. The average age for these three areas was 29.6 years old. This compares with an average of 28.7 years old across the remaining 47 largest metros in the U.S.
Salt Lake City, Louisville, Ky. and Cincinnati are the metros with the lowest average age of buyers under 35. In each of these areas, the average age for potential millennial homebuyers is around 28 years old.
San Jose, Calif., San Francisco and New York are the places where millennials had the highest average credit scores. In each of these areas, the average millennial homebuyer had a credit score higher than 704. By comparison, the average credit score for millennial homebuyers across the 50 largest MSAs in the country was 656.
Memphis, Tenn., Birmingham, Ala. and New Orleans are where millennials had the lowest average credit scores. Credit scores in these three areas were 622, 629 and 634 respectively.