ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the real estate industry is cementing Millennials’ residence in urban cores and central cities in two overlooked US regions during the 2000s and 2010s – Phoenix and Houston. The chapter triangulates data from the US Census and local media to examine trends in Millennials’ location relative to new housing construction, and the effect that new housing construction had on urban core and central city neighbourhoods from 2000 to 2013. It weaves together these trends to assess 1) how the real estate industry affected where and how Millennials live in Phoenix and Houston, and 2) how these dynamics reshaped urban housing markets, if at all. The authors find an association among new housing construction, Millennial migration, and improving socio-economic status in the urban core. Newer housing construction and Millennials were recentralizing in Phoenix and Houston over the study period. Newer housing in the urban core also was distinct from older housing in the urban core and newer housing produced in the central city or suburbs. Millennials were more likely to live in newer homes than people who were not Millennials, particularly in the urban core. These trends have implications for urban, suburban, and regional planning.
