St. Louis was the most affordable market for millennials at the end of 2018, according to a report by Redfin.
The median household income for a millennial in St. Louis is $68,805, and Redfin said more than 88 percent of homes for sale in St. Louis were affordable at that income level.
According to the report, three of the most affordable places for millennials were in Ohio. Of all the places on Redfin’s list, Columbus, Ohio, was the only place where the share of homes within reach for millennials increased from 2017 to 2018.
“We work with a lot of millennial homebuyers in Columbus,” Redfin agent Joseph “Butch” Wahlsmith said in a release. “Beyond affordability, millennials are attracted to Columbus because it’s a small city with big amenities and it’s centrally located with an international airport that gets you everywhere you need to go.
“Home to Ohio State University, it has a diverse economy with job opportunities in government, higher education, healthcare, technology and many other industries,” Wahlsmith added.
The report found the least-affordable areas for millennials were all in coastal states such as California, New York and Florida. In Los Angeles, for example, a mere 18.5 percent of homes were affordable for millennials at the end of last year. Less than 40 percent of homes were affordable to millennials in San Jose, San Diego and San Francisco.
Nationwide, 67.3 percent of homes across all the metro areas Redfin tracks were affordable for millennials in 2018, down from 71.2 percent in 2017.
“Millennials who dream of owning a home will have better luck if they move inland to places like St. Louis, Columbus and Pittsburgh. These cities used to have economies that relied heavily on manufacturing, and during the recession a lot of young people moved away in search of jobs,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said. “However, now these cities have more diverse economies based on education, healthcare and technology, and there are open jobs with salaries that are high relative to cost of living.
“But millennials may want to move as quickly as possible because even in most inland cities the share of homes affordable to the typical millennial is shrinking as housing prices go up,” Fairweather said.