Study Says Millenials Can Buy A Lot More House In Detroit Than In Other Major Cities

Apparently, Millennials are buying fewer homes than almost any other generation in history.

While some might assume the reason is that we’re just too busy trying afford authentic pour-over coffees and snug fitting beanies, stocking up on vinyl, and of course managing the perfect balance between office workdays and craft cocktail filled weekend to ever think about silly things like setting, let alone reaching long term financial goals, or even more absurd, buying a home.

Believe it or not, though, it seems that none of the reasons listed above accurately explain the drop in numbers.

A new report from smartsset.com posits several other reasons for the low rate of home buying among this group, including the housing crash’s negative impact on the generations’ perception of home buying risk, as well as the ease and flexibility of renting vs. owning a home.

The study says that the most significant reason for the low number is a combination of stagnant wages and increasing education costs, which have made it much more challenging for millenials to purchase a home

To help understand exactly what Millennials can and can’t afford, the website conducted a study to determine the average home price Millennials across the United States can afford, using data on the median income and median net worth for adult Americans under the age of 35.

For each of the largest 23 cities in the country, they used their home affordability calculator to set a threshold for a typical millennial, then applied the average price per square foot of real estate in each city to determine how large a home each value represents.

Here is a quick look at some of the results. As you can see, Millennials in Detroit actually have some reasonable home buying power, with the cost of a 3,205-square-foot home coming in at around $125,000.

To see how we stack up against other cities, you can check out the full report here.