10 Worst Cities for Millennial Homebuyers: 2021

Related: 15 Best Cities for Millennial Homebuyers: 2021

Most millennials believe that owning a home is part of the “American Dream” and now account for more than a third of all homebuyers in the U.S., according to research by Clever, which connects homebuyers with real estate agents.

But sky-high prices and a slowing housing markets preclude many of them from finding their dream home in locations where millennials may desire to live — particularly on the East or West Coasts.

This is evident in Clever’s endeavor to help millennials find cities to live in that are both affordable and appealing. Clever developed the Millennial Metric to identify locations that strike the perfect balance between fun and affordability for young homebuyers with limited means and high expectations.

Researchers looked at the 100 most populated cities in the U.S. and ranked them against four key metrics:

Job opportunity: A measure of income, wage growth and unemployment
Home affordability: A measure of home values and price-to-income ratios
Livability: A measure of factors like commute times, crime rates, and education levels
Housing market forecast: A measure of how home values will appreciate over the next 12 months

They gave “livability” and “home affordability” more weight than “job opportunity” and “housing market forecast” in order to prioritize places that are both affordable and fun to live in.

At one extreme, researchers identified markets that beckon millennials with robust scores; at the other extreme, cities that are nice to visit, but are unaffordable for most young homebuyers.

See the gallery for the 10 worst cities for millennial homebuyers.

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