Thornton is among the top five most popular cities for millennial homebuyers, according to a report by personal-finance technology company SmartAsset.
Drawing on data for the 200 largest cities from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 and 2017 1-Year American Community Surveys, SmartAsset found that contrary to other recent reports, millennial homeownership was down 4.4% in 2018. Only 42 cities saw an increase in homes purchased by millennials, the report found.
Twenty minutes north of Denver, the median price for a single-family home in Thornton was $403,253 in February, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. A townhome or condo went for a median $274,000 in February.
[Related: Mile-high millennials—What the next generation of homebuyers means for builders]
By comparison, the median home price for a single-family home in Denver was $436,000.
“The housing market in Colorado is booming, and Colorado has some of the lowest property taxes in the nation,” according to SmartAsset. “Millennials have done a good job buying homes here as well, according to Census Bureau data. Thornton has a millennial homeownership rate of nearly 57%, up from 54.65% in 2008.”
Although Thornton is among the least expensive cities in the metro area, SmartAsset noted home value alone isn’t driving purchase decisions for millennials. In fact, the average median home value in the top 25 cities for millennials was $294,000, compared to $284,300 in the bottom 25.
[Related: 7 hottest housing markets for 2019: Trulia]
Chesapeake, Virginia, was the top city for millennials, SmartAsset found, followed by Elk Grove, California. Garland, Texas, and Warren, Michigan, tied for third place.
Danielle Andrus was previously the managing editor for Colorado Builder, and is currently Editor for the Journal of Financial Planning.
