Homeownership by millennials is up, and Michigan cities lead way

It took millennials longer to achieve than their parents, but more than half of 27- to 42-year-olds in the U.S. now own homes. Grand Rapids and Detroit are among the cities leading the charge.

Millennials are the generation born between 1981 and 1996. As of 2022, greater Grand Rapids was the top metro area of 1 million or more residents for millennial homeownership, with 63% owning homes. Metro Detroit came in seventh, with about 55% of millennials owning homes, behind Grand Rapids, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. e national average is 51.5%.

at’s according to a recent Apartment List report that examined Census data on the current homeownership rates of four generations.

Unsurprisingly, due to a plethora of factors led by the Great Recession of the mid-2000s, millennials have transitioned from renting to owning far more slowly than preceding generations.

Some of the factors the report cited are economic instability following the nancial crisis of 2007-09, the rise in appeal of “ exible lifestyles,” young people moving to cities with higher costs of living and the growing housing inventory shortage amid historically low interest rates.

“By age 30, 42 percent of millennials owned their homes, compared to

48 percent of Gen Xers, 51 percent of baby boomers, and nearly 60 percent of (the silent generation, born 192845),” the Apartment List report said. “ at gap persists through their 30s and into their early 40s.”

Grand Rapids, a millennial mecca

Daniel and Claire Molling, both 32, purchased their home in Grand Rapids’ West Grand neighborhood in July 2021 for $253,000, which is just above today’s median home value of $250,000 for the city. e couple had been dating since 2017 and closed on the home just months before their wedding.

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