By Konrad Putzier
New York is falling behind in the race for millennials, according to a new report by research firm, RealtyTrac.
While Manhattan and Hudson County, which includes Hoboken and Jersey City, are among the top ten markets millennials are moving to, they are trailing other hotspots like Washington D.C., San Francisco and Denver.
Arlington and Alexandria counties in metro Washington D.C. head the list with 82.2 and 80.7 percent growth in the population of millennials between 2007 and 2013, respectively.
Orleans Parish in Louisiana, San Francisco County, Denver County, Montgomery County in northern Tennessee and Hudson County are also ahead of Manhattan, which comes in eighth with a 42.8 percent growth in the millennial population.
That other cities are growing in appeal among 18 to 33 year olds is hardly surprising.
Manhattan’s median home price of $850,000 compares to $140,000 in Orleans Parish, $270,000 in Denver and $505,000 in Arlington County, according to the report. Only San Francisco has a higher median home price, $950,000.
Employment prospects aren’t too rosy either. Manhattan’s unemployment rate of six percent is well above unemployment rates of 3.2 percent in Arlington County, 4.4 percent in San Francisco and 5.1 percent in Orleans Parish.
While millennials are generally moving to expensive metropolitan markets, baby boomers are taking the opposite route.
The three counties with the fastest-growing baby boomer population are Fayette County in metro Atlanta, Citrus County in Florida and El Dorado County in metropolitan Sacramento.
“The millennial generation is the key to a sustained real estate recovery and boomers who are downsizing are helping open the door for many first time homebuyers while also driving demand for purchases and rentals in the markets where they are moving,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac.
“Naturally, millennials are attracted to markets with good job prospects and low unemployment but that tend to have high rental rates and high home price appreciation, while boomers are moving to lower populated areas which have slower home price appreciation.”
