JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – A popular housing site named Jacksonville one of the top places for young adults to settle down and buy homes.

In 2022, 17.91% of home buyers in Jacksonville were part of Gen Z.

“I would say that there is a big group of younger people buying homes, and a lot of it is just you can buy a house lot cheaper than what you can rent,” said Keith Darman, an on-site real estate agent.

Many say the city’s housing market may be better suited for some to purchase a home.

“We also are in a great market for here, where the prices for housing are still reasonable,” said Raqueal Edwards, a real estate broker.

Edwards says there are some other draws for the younger generation.

“Here we have the beaches. You’re a few hours away from the mountains, so you really have the option of being close to everything and having a lot of amenities.”

It’s also no secret the city has some military bases nearby.

“I’ve noticed in the recent years that a lot of people are graduating high school, and as they are coming into the workforce, they’re choosing the military as their career choice,” said Edwards.

Darman, who is an agent for new construction, said they’ve been selling new homes fairly fast.

“It is pretty busy so we do have kind of a difficult time keeping up with as many clients as we have coming in.”

Realtor.com also says the average list price of a house in the area is around $330,000. The average price for all ten cities on the list is around $424,900.

Some of the other metro areas in the top 10 include Elkhart, Indiana; Lima, Ohio; and Waterloo, Iowa.