Over half the mortgages issued in Kalamazoo, MI are to millennials, 55.5 percent to be more precise, securing the No. 8 slot nationally for where millennials make up the largest share of mortgages. Why? Rent growth, for one. Rent prices in the area have gone up over 4 percent over the last year and continue to climb, making homeownership more appealing than ever. Thanks to the Kalamazoo Promise, covering up to 100 percent of school tuition and fees for locals to attend public colleges in Michigan, many don’t have debt and are able to make a larger downpayment. Appleton, WI scored the No. 1 spot, though.

Pending Home Sales for March rose 0.4 percent, slightly missing expectations and are down 3 percent year over year but inched higher for the second consecutive month. Rising wages, still low rates, looser credit standards, and rising rent prices are all contributing to homebuyers finding owning a home more appealing. The biggest issue homebuyers face is lack of inventory and therefor lack of choices.

Households seem to be making the switch from renting to buying, and millennial households are showing some of the largest gains despite making up only a third of all homebuyers. Expectation: they’ve got purchasing power and we’re going to continue seeing them flow into the housing market. Last year, rent hit record levels in all four regions. The homeownership rate remained steady at 64 percent but is still below 2004’s peak of 69.2 percent.

Women are increasingly buying homes, with 46.4 percent of homebuyers in 2017 comprising of women. Single women reached an all-time high in 2017 making up almost 19 percent of homebuyers. Who else are making up the largest shares of homebuying? Households over 55 years of age and folks without children. You read that right—the share of homebuyers with children fell to an all-time low last year: 40.7 percent.