Greater Cincinnati has become one of the most popular locations for young homebuyers, with a study earlier this year predicting they will account for nearly half of all new mortgages in the Cincinnati area by 2023.
Young homebuyers make up about half of mortgages in the Cincinnati area
According to a February 2024 study commissioned by Redfin, a national real estate brokerage, Generation Z homebuyers ages 18 to 25 and young Millennial homebuyers under 35 took out 46.5% of all new mortgages in the Cincinnati area last year.
This puts Cincinnati in second place among the 50 most populous US metropolitan areas where young people secure the largest piece of the mortgage pie. The leader is Pittsburgh: 48 percent of all new mortgages in the Steel City last year were granted to buyers under 35.
To make a 20% down payment on a conventional mortgage for a $300,000 home—the median price in the Cincinnati metropolitan area—a Gen Z or Gen Y buyer would need to put down $60,000.
Young homebuyers turn to their families for mortgage payments
So where do young professionals get the money for such a big purchase?
Mom and dad.
This is according to a study by Redfin, which found that more than a third of Gen Z and Millennials planning to buy a home expected a cash gift from family to help finance the down payment.
“I’ve seen a lot of money given away,” said Donna Deaton, a real estate agent with Re/Max Victory + Affiliates in Liberty Township. “I’ve seen parents refinancing their homes and cashing out their 401(k)s to help them (the kids) get started. And that’s not just the parents, it’s siblings, too.”
When looking at the youngest potential homebuyers, the Cincinnati area ranks fifth among the most popular destinations for Gen Z adults, according to another study by Lending Tree.
Average age of local Generation Z homebuyers: 22
In 2022, 20.27% of mortgage inquiries from January 1 to December 31 came from prospective homebuyers with an average age of 22, according to data from Lending Tree, which analyzed mortgage purchase inquiries from Generation Z users of the LendingTree platform in the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas.
At 22.59%, Salt Lake City had the largest share of mortgage inquiries from Generation Z.
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