Sarasota may be experiencing an increasing population, an economic boom, and an ambitious revitalization of its downtown area, but here’s one area the city needs to improve in: attracting millennial homebuyers. According to a study conducted by LendingTree, Sarasota ranks 100 out of the 100 largest US metropolitan areas in terms of loan requests submitted to the online loan marketplace. Greg Owens, president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee and a broker and owner with Keller Williams on the Water, puts it simply: “The reality is we are a second-home and retirement market. The demographics of our area drive the market.”

The Sarasota and Manatee Counties’ economic and business organizations have dedicated several resources to engaging millennials, particularly with their Young Professionals groups. Mark Huey, president and chief executive of the Sarasota County Economic Development Corp., believes the counties are a high-growth area for millennials due to the expansion of quality internship programs and by promoting job growth in companies that hire millennials.

Creating more high-quality employment opportunities for young people certainly helps attract millennials to the area, but LendingTree’s average loan request during 2017 was about $166,000, while the median sales price of a single-family home in the Sarasota or Manatee area is between $270,000-$300,000. If Sarasota truly wants to attract more permanent millennial homeowners, it must first create housing that is affordable by the average millennial’s income, which may be a challenge.

To learn more about this topic, check out Chris Willie’s article on the Herald Tribune.