Study: Aurora ranks 9th among cities where Gen Z can afford to buy

A new study ranks Aurora among the top large U. S. cities where members of Generation Z have a chance of becoming homeowners — even as housing affordability was a top issue for voters in the suburban city’s recent elections.

The Jan. 18 report published by Point2, a company that analyzes real estate trends, reviewed data for 100 major cities.

Aurora ranked ninth on its list of places where a person younger than 25 “stands a chance of owning a home.”

Aurora’s ranking compared to Denver, which came in 19th, and Colorado Springs, which ranked 20th.

The rankings might seem counterintuitive, in some ways, because metro Denver is usually seen as less affordable than Colorado Springs. But Point2’s study says the factors, including household incomes, can combine in unique ways for younger buyers.

Aurora, which has nearly 394,000 residents, has a wide variety of housing choices, from older subdivisions of small houses to new subdivisions and apartment communities.

The cities were ranked based on weighted averages of home price-to-income ratios, median sales price differences from 2022 to 2023, home inventory available, the share of houses sold above asking price, days on the market, homeownership rates and unemployment rates.

Gen Z, defined as those born from the late 1990s to the early 2010s, is estimated to number 69.6 million people, or about 21% of the country’s population.

At the top of the list of most attainable places for homeownership were major cities in the South and Midwest.

Census data shows about 17% of Gen Z households own their own homes. Although that number is expected to grow, according to the study, homeownership has been unattainable for many young people.

Large cities in California are more difficult for Gen Z’ers to put down ownership roots, according to the study, with Fremont, in the Bay Area, listed as the most difficult city for the age group to buy.

Home prices there were almost 23 times what younger households were making in income, and houses were being taken off the market in 10 days. Behind Fremont were San Diego and Lexington, Ky.

Overall, Point2 gave Aurora a score of 72.78 out of 100, with the city’s Gen Z homeownership rate listed at 13.9%. The Gen Z homeownership rates for Denver and Colorado Springs were 8.9% and 8.4%, respectively.

Despite this bit of good news for the youngest buyers, Colorado’s major cities face overall housing affordability challenges, with growing rates of homelessness.

And in October, the Common Sense Institute, a business- oriented think tank based in Greenwood Village, published a report that stated that Aurora’s housing affordability had plummeted to its lowest point in more than two decades, almost doubling in cost in the past eight years, because of increased prices and interest rates.

Housing costs, the study noted, were outpacing residents’ incomes, and there was a supply shortage.

Still, Aurora’s average home prices were more affordable than Colorado’s overall, according to the study.