- Salt Lake City has become the most popular city for Gen Z homebuyers, a LendingTree report found.
- Oklahoma City and Birmingham, Alabama, are the next two most popular.
Gen Z is becoming old enough to buy houses, and that generation is flocking to more affordable cities and avoiding the expensive coasts.
Americans face a housing market characterized by low inventory and high mortgage rates. At the same time, adult Gen Zers have come of age in a remote-friendly professional landscape, altering beliefs about housing and location.
This group, born between 1997 and 2012, accounted for an average of 14.91% of potential homebuyers in the 50 largest US metro areas in the 12 months through December 31, 2022, according to a LendingTree report.
Salt Lake City had the largest share of mortgage requests from Gen Zers at 22.59%, the analysis found. A strong local jobs market and a blend of urban and rural amenities make it a hot spot.
The next two most popular cities included the relatively inexpensive Oklahoma City and Birmingham, Alabama, with mortgage requests hovering at 22.36% and 20.79%, respectively.
Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and St. Louis were among other popular choices for Gen Z homebuyers.
Meanwhile, San Francisco saw the smallest proportion of mortgage requests by Gen Zers at 7.76%, LendingTree said.
The second and third least popular cities, per the report, were New York and San Jose, California, at 8.88% and 9.70%, respectively. Six of the least popular 10 metros for Gen Z buyers are in California.
Average down payments among potential Gen Z buyers varied widely based on city. The average in San Jose, for example, was $77,786, whereas a down payment Oklahoma City was $18,752.
To be sure, owning a home in the current market may not offer the value it did in years past. CoreLogic data shows that the average US homeowner with a mortgage had less home equity in the first quarter, with the measure slipping 1.9% from a year ago in the first annual decline since 2012.