A generation on the move: utah's real estate market is a mecca for millenniais.

• Author: Madison, Rachel

Millennials really don't want to live in their parents' basements forever--especially in Utah, where a strong economy and job growth play major factors in allowing 20-somethings the opportunity to become first-time home buyers.

Although millennials--those born between 1980 and 1995--currently represent 31 percent of home buyers across the nation, millennials living in Utah are better positioned as first-time home buyers than those in most other parts of the country, says Rick Southwick, president of the Utah Association of Realtors.

"They're a huge group that came into the job market at an extremely difficult time," he says. "Utah's strong economy and strong job growth rate create jobs for millennials that should continue to enable them to purchase homes."

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Utah's short-term job growth is ranked No. 2 in the country and its long-term job growth is ranked No. 3. In addition, Utah's unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the nation at 3.6 percent, with the national rate hovering at 6.1 percent.

The National Association of Realtors completed a study on millennial home buyers in July, and both Ogden and Salt Lake City were ranked in the top 10 best purchase markets for millennia's. The only other state with two communities in the top 10 was Texas.

Opportunity Knocks

Utah's young demographics mean that millennials will dominate the housing market for some time to come. "The largest portion of our demographic is the millennial portion," says Jennifer Horner, buyer specialist for Draper-based Aspen Creek Realty, an independently owned brokerage. "We're a younger state, so we're positioned to have a high millennial market to begin with."

Several factors make Utah attractive to millennial home buyers. Homer says data proves millennials want to live in places with job growth and affordable housing inventory. "In our metro areas, that is still being found," she says. "We still have enough of a range of housing prices that fall into the affordability category." In the most recent data released by the Utah Association of Realtors, the median home sale price in Utah year-to-date was $215,000. Nationally, the median was $273,500.

"We are and continue to be one of the more affordable markets in the country," Southwick says. "Since the start of the recession, values and purchase prices have dropped, bottomed out and have been coming back up. Home price affordability remains relatively high and we continue to have...