The Greater Boston housing market is relatively open to Millennial homebuyers – but only those without 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 3.9 years to save enough for a downpayment on a Greater Boston property (compared to 5.3 years nationwide), but those with student debt, it takes 11.5 years (above the 10.2 years nationwide).
Millennials and Homeownership
Among Millennials with no college degree, Boston’s housing market is even less open. For such consumers, it takes 16.1 years to save for a downpayment, more than the national average of 15.4 years.
To see how Greater Boston 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% |