Millennial demand is driving up prices in neighborhoods with kids, and the trend is growing

Home values are growing fastest in areas with the highest share of kids, reflecting the impact millennial house hunters are making on family-friendly neighborhoods with a shortage of homes for sale, according to Zillow. A record number of millennials will reach key age milestones for home buyers over the next two years, which may accelerate price gains even further.

The top 10 percent of ZIP codes with the largest share of kids in each county analyzed saw an average of 21.3 percent growth from October 2020 to October 2021, compared with 17.6 percent in ZIP codes with the smallest share of kids. That trend started in 2013, which, not coincidentally, was the year the oldest millennials turned 32, the age when many new parents buy their first homes. That's the median age of first-time home buyers and one year older than the median age of fathers with newborns.

“As millennials go, so goe