It’s long been projected that Millennials are destined to dominate the housing market in upcoming years. Now, new data from reveals that it's finally happening. Millennials are buying houses. Lots of them.

According to, in January 2017, Millennials surpassed Generation X as the group that was responsible for the most new mortgages. Since then, Millennials' share of the mortgage market has continued to rise. By the end of 2018, Millennials represented 45% of all new mortgages, compared to 36% for Generation X, and 17% for Baby Boomers.


"In November 2018, Millennials finally overtook Generation X as having the largest share of new loans by dollar volume, with a share of 42% in December, compared to a share of 40% for Generation X and 17% for Baby Boomers. This indicates Millennials are willing to take on larger mortgages than any other generation to fulfill their dreams of homeownership," the company writes.'s Director of Economic Research Javier Vivas said Millennials are getting older, with better jobs and deeper pockets, allowing them to expand their collective purchase power, and hence, their footprint in the market.

"The stereotype that Millennials primarily choose to buy homes and live in large metro areas isn't the reality," Vivas said. "Results show Millennials' expansion is more heavily conditioned by affordability than in prior years, so their eyes are set on less traditional secondary markets where homes and jobs are now available and plentiful."

According to the company, affordability is such a huge factor for Millennial homebuyers that many are moving to housing markets that previous generations considered less desirable, including Buffalo, New York. Interestingly, this metro is the top affordable market for Millennials.


In fact, Millennial down payments averaged only 8.8% in December 2018, compared to 11.9% for Generation X and 17.7% for Baby Boomers.

“Given that the majority of Millennial homebuyers are searching for their first homes and do not bring equity from a previous home, it's no surprise they are putting down smaller down payments,” writes. “This is likely a driver of their activity in more affordable markets, where their money goes further.”


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