A recent study found that 4.4% of homeowners in the Fresno area are under 25 years old — the largest proportion among California's largest cities. Adobe Stock photo

A recent study conducted by insurance website Construction Coverage found that 4.4% of Fresno and Madera County homebuyers are under 25 years old.

The 4.4% ranks Fresno 22nd for young adult home ownership among the 53 large metropolitan areas in the country with more than 1 million people. 

Of the seven large California metros, Fresno has the biggest share of homebuyers under 25. However, California cities make up the bottom five.

The San Francisco metropolitan area, including Oakland and Fremont, has a 1.2% homebuyer share — the lowest among large metros in the country.

The other four include San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (1.3%), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1.5%), San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad (1.9%) and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (2.1%).

Outside of Fresno and those four, the only other California metro on the list is Sacramento. The Sacramento metro is a tad higher than the bottom five cities at 45th and 2.5%.

Fresno’s percentage is up from 2023, when it was 3.9%. 

Despite Fresno’s rate nearly doubling the next closet large California metro, it still falls behind the national average of 5.0%

Fresno also has the lowest median loan amount in the state at $285,000. In comparison, the San Jose metro has the highest median loan amount in the country, regardless of metro size, at $645,000.

Fresno is $90,000 higher than the national average of $195,000. 

As a state, California has the second-lowest percentage of home buyers under 25 at 2.1%. Hawaii has the lowest rate at 1.9%.

Iowa has the highest percentage in the country at 11.9%. 

In 2023, the 25-and-younger demographic had the second-lowest number of total home purchases, only ahead of the 74-and-older group. 

The 25-34 age group has the most purchases, with a total of around 700,000. From there, the number of purchases decreased with each group.

All seven groups saw their purchases drop from 2019. Although the drop-off among the 25-and-under age group isn’t as drastic as some of the others, it still trended in the wrong direction. 

After peaking before the start of the pandemic with homeownership rates of over 25%, the 25 and under demographic is now around 23%. 

However, it is far from the low point reached in the mid-1990s when the rate was slightly lower than 15%. 

J.P. Shamshoian, CEO of Realty Concepts, believes the downward trend stems from not investing enough in education.

“Homebuying across all demographics is a lagging indicator,” Shamshoian said in an email. “To better understand why our area may lag behind for young buyers, I think it’s instructive to look at some of the leading indicators like high school graduation rates, four year college graduation rates, and job opportunities for that cohort of buyers. We know that workers with a better education and more skills fare better in the housing market, so it’s imperative that we continue to invest in improving our local educational institutions and employment opportunities.”