Phoenix is a hot market for millennials

According to a report from Meyers Research, Phoenix is the fourth most desirable place to live for millennials.

The largest share of millennials is now just under 30 years old and starting to venture into the workforce and housing market.

“Millennials are gaining home-buying market share each year. The largest living generation is aging into prime homeownership years and will drive the housing market going forward,” Ali Wolf, Meyers economic research director, wrote.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the homeownership rate for those under 35 was 36.5 percent in 2018, which is lower than the 39.1 percent historical average. To help understand the low, but increasing homeownership rates, Meyers Research conducted a Millennial survey.

“Hispanics and millennials names overall saw a surge in home purchases last year. If these buyers can continue to break through the affordability barrier, they are likely to make up a larger share of owners than ever before and dominate the market for years to come,” Director of Economics Research at realtor.com, Javier Vivas said in a statement.

In the report, Meyers asked millennials if they had seriously considered moving out of their current city, 60 percent of respondents said yes.

“The younger millennials are more flexible,” the report said. “70 percent of millennials aged 19 to 24 seriously considered moving compared to 45 percent of those 35 to 39.”

However, a big factor in this finding is that millennials make up a large share of renters. 60 percent of renters were open to moving, a 20 percent increase over the 40 percent of homeowners who said yes.

With their data, Meyers created a millennial desirability index and ranked Phoenix fourth.

“The labor market helped and hurt Phoenix with strong employment opportunities but modest salaries,” Meyers reported. “The lower than average millennial wages are partially offset by a favorable cost of living.”

Meyers based their findings on data about job growth and total employment (Bureau of Labor Statistics), cost of living (Numbeo), wage potential (U.S. Census Bureau), quality of life (U.S. News and World Report), fun index (WalletHub), and affordable housing availability (Zonda by Meyers Research).

In March 2019, Phoenix’s unemployment rate was at 4.1 percent and the average weekly income for all industries in Maricopa County was $1,013, reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

According to Numbeo, the cost of living index in Phoenix is 33.32 percent lower than in New York and was ranked 135th out of 383 cities in the world.

Numbeo reports that Phoenix has a cost of living index of 66.68 and a single person’s monthly cost is $833.45 without rent while a four-person family’s monthly costs are $2,919 without rent.

WalletHub ranked Phoenix the 43rd most fun city in the United States — behind Tucson (28) and Scottsdale (30) — ranking 48th in Entertainment & Recreation, 60th in Nightlife & Parties and 5th in Cost.

U.S. News ranked Phoenix, Arizona as the 26th best place to live and the 17th best place to retire with a 6.9 overall score, a 6.4 quality of life score and 6.6 value.

“Nicknamed the ‘Valley of the Sun,’ the Greater Phoenix area sees more sunshine than any other metro area in the country. That in and of itself is enough to entice people to lay down roots, but Arizona’s capital also features a desirable combination of a thriving job market, a relatively low cost of living and plenty of ways to enjoy the nice weather,” U.S. News said.

To view the Meyers Research full report, click here.