The Houston housing market is among the most open to Millennial homebuyers – especially those with student debt.
That finding came from a new study by Apartment List, which looked at the number of years it takes Millennial consumers to save for a downpayment in certain metro areas. For Millennials with no student debt, it takes 2.2 years to save enough for a downpayment on a Houston property (compared to 5.3 years nationwide), and for those with student debt, it takes 4.2 years (far lower than the 10.2 years nationwide).
Millennials and Homeownership
Even among Millennials with no college degree, Houston’s housing market offers opportunities. For such consumers, it takes 7.5 years to save for a downpayment, less than half of the national average of 15.4 years.
Millennials face many problems in today’s economy, but if homeownership among the generation is going to take off in any major metro area, it’s likely to be Houston.
To see how Houston compares with other metro areas, see our chart below, which compares downpayment-saving times for Millennials with and without student debt, along with those with no college degree:
| Metro Area | No Student Debt | Student Debt | No College Degree | Share of Millennials with Student Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 1.7 | 1.8 | 5.2 | 50% |
| Boston | 3.9 | 11.5 | 16.1 | 65% |
| Chicago | 3.0 | 3.4 | 7.3 | 61% |
| Dallas | 2.6 | 4.3 | 9.2 | 52% |
| Houston | 2.2 | 4.2 | 7.5 | 55% |
| Los Angeles | 8.5 | 19.9 | 29 | 51% |
| Miami | 2.9 | 5.3 | 9.1 | 51% |
| New York | 5.1 | 9.4 | 14.5 | 59% |
| Philadelphia | 0.4 | 2.5 | 5 | 65% |
| Phoenix | 8.4 | 14.2 | 11.2 | 51% |
| San Francisco | 11.3 | 63.5 | 48.6 | 49% |
| San Jose | 4.4 | 15.0 | 48.4 | 43% |
| Seattle | 8.0 | 18.3 | 15.3 | 49% |
| U.S. Average | 5.3 | 10.2 | 15.4 | 58% |