RentCafe: Five Years Saw 74% Increase in Millennial Homeownership

(Image courtesy of Diva Plavalaguna/pexels.com)

RentCafe, Santa Barbara, Calif., released a new study, finding that approximately 5.3 million millennials became homeowners in five years, a 74% increase.

Simultaneously, there was a 5% increase in millennial renters, adding about 600,000 households.

That means that there are near-equal numbers of millennial renters (12.6 million) and homeowners (12.4 million).

RentCafe analyzed pre-pandemic 2018 compared with 2023 for the study.

The largest increase in millennial homeowner households was in North Port, Fla., with a 166% five-year change. Next is Lakeland, Fla., up 140.7%, Jacksonville, Fla., up 125.9%, Stockton, Calif., up 117.6%, and Oxnard, Calif., up 113.9%.

However, those aren’t necessarily the areas with the highest density of millennial homeownership. In Grand Rapids, Mich., 68.5% of millennial are homeowners. Next is Ogden, Utah, at 68.3%, Provo, Utah, at 67.2%, Lancaster, Pa., at 62.9%, and Minneapolis, Minn., and Baton Rouge, La., at 62.6%.

In contrast, Orlando, Fla., saw the largest increase in millennial renters, up 34.4% in five years. Next is Lakeland, Fla., up 32.7%, Cape Coral, Fla., up 27%, Palm Bay, Fla., up 26.9% and Miami, up 26.8%.

The highest concentration of millennial renters is in Los Angeles, at 70.1%, followed by San Jose, Calif., at 65.8%, San Diego, at 64.4%, New York, at 63.6% and San Francisco at 62.4%.