2 SC cities have among the highest share of millennial homeowners in the US, new report shows
The cost of buying a home in South Carolina has been an ever-growing expense as of late.
Home prices have skyrocketed in the Palmetto State over the last couple of years due to a combination of high demand and low inventory. Still, the rising prices and even the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t kept many millennials’ from buying homes, a new report from RentCafe shows.
According to RentCafe, about 52% of millennials owned a home in 2022, based on data that examines homeowner and renter households in 260 U.S. metropolitan areas. The data comes from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, part of the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation at the University of Minnesota.
“This demographic gained 10.8 million homeowners in the last decade, including 7.1 million in the last five years to reach 18.2 million in 2022,” the report states.
The data from the report shows that as for where millennials are choosing to buy homes, two of 10 of the most popular cities are in South Carolina.
Below are 10 cities with among the highest percentage of millennial homeowners compared to renters in the U.S. in 2022.
Greenville, SC: 67%
Columbia, SC: 69%
North Port, FL: 71%
Portland, ME: 72%
Boise City, ID: 72%
Des Moines, IA: 73%
Youngstown, Ohio: 74%
Palm Bay, FL: 75%
Provo, UT: 76%
Midland, TX: 82%
SC demand
It’s not a complete shock that more millennials are opting to buy homes in South Carolina. The state has seen an influx in new residents overall compared to many other states. According to more recent, preliminary Census data, South Carolina was the third fastest-growing state in 2022.
And this has been happening despite rising home sales prices.
For instance, the greater Columbia area had a median sales price of $250,000 for 2023 as of February — up 2% from $245,000 for the same period last year, South Carolina Realtors statistics show. And that median price was an even far lower $209,250 in 2021.
Other findings about millennial homeowners
The report found that the average millennial bought their first home at 34 years old, later than their parents or grandparents. Gen Xers reached that milestone at the age of 32, while baby boomers reached it at the age of 33 on average.
“The idea of the American Dream has begun to distance itself from the picket fence narrative … because millennials are living by other principles and values than their parents or grandparents,” the report states. “However, despite the growing popularity of the renter-by-choice lifestyle, America’s largest adult generation is now mostly made up of homeowners.”
Millennials have had a few economic factors working to their benefit to help them buy homes in recent years.
They reached a historically high median income in 2022 of $108,000 per year.
Many millennials moved back in with their parents during the pandemic or delayed moving out entirely. With work-from-home supporting these decisions, many millennials used this time as a chance to save for a downpayment on a home.
