Selling your home? Target Millennials

Millennial buyers on the rise

If you’re not marketing your home to Millennials, then you’re missing out. Data shows that by the end of 2018, Millennials are expected to account for a whopping 43 percent of new mortgages — meaning nearly half of all home sales.

The growing Millennial cohort

According to the Porch.com Millennial Home Buying Trends Report, Millennial buyers accounted for 36 percent of home sales in the last year. By the end of 2018, they’ll make up a projected 43 percent of all mortgages.

Half of Millennial homes purchased in the last year were located in the suburbs. They were also more likely to be in small towns than those bought by Baby Boomers or Generation Xers. Only about a quarter of Millennial buyers chose urban locations.

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“While plenty of Millennials are attracted to places like New York and Los Angeles, many are moving to more affordable cities in the Midwest and the South,” the report reads.

So-called 18-hour cities, like Columbus, Ohio and Raleigh, North Carolina, are particularly popular with Millennials, according to the report — largely because of higher housing affordability.

Millennials aren’t waiting for marriage to buy a home — at least not in these cities

What Millennials want

What are they looking for in those homes? The report shows updated kitchens, energy efficiency, outdoor recreation areas and smart technology as some of the top features. A good school district is also of growing importance to Millennial buyers.

“As more and more Millennials have children, they’re much more likely to be concerned with affordability and the quality of local school districts (as well as how close schools are to home),” the report reads. “They’re even more interested in being close to friends and family than other generations — a fact that challenges preconceptions about Millennials as the ‘Me Me Me Generation.’”

And once they move in, painting, remodeling the bathroom, adding new carpet and landscaping are among Millennials’ first home improvement to-dos.

Get today’s mortgage rates

Looking to join America’s Millennials on the home buying journey? Then shop around and see what mortgage rates you qualify for today.