Appleton tops national list for millennial home-buying

"You Won't Believe the New Millennial Magnets For Home Buyers," reads the headline on a trend story published today by realtor.com.

Got that right. That's because the No. 1 city in the country for millennial mortgages, according to their formula, is Appleton.

These sorts of national lists are sometimes head-scratchers. Maybe the data is rock solid. Maybe it's not. But if nothing else, it's another reason to high five anybody out there working hard to make the Fox Cities a more desirable place for young people.

The rest of the top 10 shakes out like this:

2. Des Moines, Iowa

3. Utica, New York

4. Provo, Utah

5. Duluth, Minnesota

6. Lafayette, Louisiana

7. Lancaster, Pennsylvania

8. Kalamazoo, Michigan

9. Lincoln, Nebraska

10. Evansville, Indiana

How'd they get their list? First, they defined the millennial generation the same way Pew Research Center does: people born between 1981 and 1996. They then calculated the number of home buyers in that age range who bought homes in the past 12 months in the top 200 housing markets nationwide. They also only included the top two locations in each state.

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Appleton landed in the top spot, with 57 percent of home-buyers being millennials. Des Moines, Iowa was next in line and just one tenth of a percentage point behind.

The author cites move-in-ready houses as a draw, especially those in Kimberly. (It seems the Appleton housing market includes other nearby Fox Cities communities.) There's also a mention of entertainment offerings, including Appleton Beer Factory downtown and nearby Lake Winnebago.

Oh, and they also reference another national list that Appleton topped in recent years: 24/7 Wall Street's ranking of the drunkest cities in America. Cheers?