Fifty-nine percent of the borrowers in the Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area who used a mortgage to buy a home in the first half of 2015 were between the ages of 25 and 34, according to Realtor.com. That far outpaces the national average of 37 percent. Iowa Public Radio quotes Realtor.com’s chief economist, Jonathan Smoke, as saying Des Moines’ higher percentage of millennial buyers likely is influenced by its educated workforce due to strong insurance and financial sectors, its proximity to two large research universities, and the fact that Central Iowa historically has had a high rate of homeownership, meaning there are fewer Gen Xers or baby boomers looking to buy.