Forget the suburbs, wealthy millennials are keeping big cities alive

• The wealthiest millennials prefer city life over the suburbs, per an Engel & Völkers report.
• 60% of them plan to buy a home in an urban area, which should help cities rebound post-pandemic.
• They want to stay close to their employer and maybe even to live with their parents.

Wealthy millennials are keeping big cities alive.

As the era of remote work sent many millennials into the suburbs to snap up homes, the wealthiest members of the generation have stayed put in their urban oases. That's according to a new report by Manhattan-based brokerage Engel & Völkers, which found that more than half of millennials earning over $250,000 plan to sell their home this year or next - and most aren't looking for picket fences in exchange.

Sixty percent of this cohort is planning to buy a home in an urban city, while 40% hope to buy in the suburbs. Among wealthy millennials, 83% already own homes in urban areas.

One of the reasons why might surprise you: It's so they can live with their parents. The majority of the cohort said their parents currently live with them or intend to live with them in the future, which is in line with the pandemic-era trend toward multigenerational living.

There's also the idea that, despite the era of remote work, they may still need to be located near their company. Citygoers' relationships with the office won't change that much, economist Enrico Moretti recently told Bloomberg. With a day or two working from home each week, and three to four days in the office, professionals would still need to have a physical presence in the metro area to access certain types of careers and jobs.

What the pandemic has done is extend the city's borders to the edge of the metro area, a reflection of an expanding regional labor market. People are moving, but within their city.

As Moretti put it, "There's been so much emphasis on the idea that if people don't have to go into the office every day, more will move out to the exurbs. But it really just seems to mean that people can more easily sort themselves into the part of the metropolitan area where they want to live in. I mean, I'd rather live in the city."

Urbanism expert Richard Florida told Insider back in February that big cities would thrive in the era of remote work. He said a newfound focus on personal interaction would reshape and revive them, with the neighborhood of the city taking on more of the functions of an office.

"People will gravitate to places where they can meet and interact with others outside of the home and outside of the office," he said.

This means superstar cities still have a pull for young professionals, offering them both career opportunities and a new kind of flexibility. It's all good news for the economies of urban areas. Cities like New York City and San Francisco were hit hard when the pandemic first hit the US, standing to see a 10% drop in consumer spending because of remote work this past spring.

The wealthiest millennials looking to make a long-term home in urban cities is only helping these areas rebound in their post-pandemic chapter.