In your 20s and early 30s, it's hard not to notice the siren song of real estate. After all, mortgages rates are still at all-time lows and in many markets, buying can be cheaper than renting. You might also have been brought up to consider housing an investment and renting as "throwing money away."
If this sounds like your experience, then you might want to read up on this latest survey by the National Association of Realtors, who rounded up the hotspots where strong job growth and affordable home prices might persuade you to consider making the jump. According to their report, these are the markets that "are well-positioned to soon experience a rise in first-time buyers as the economy improves.” And, surprisingly enough, of the 100 metro areas that were analyzed (see below for more detail), some of the more popular millennial-based cities didn't make the cut.
Either way, millennials, fear not. It doesn't have to be back to mom and dad's house for you...

Job Growth: 1.5 percent

Job Growth: 2.4 percent

Job Growth: 2.5 percent

Job Growth: 2.6 percent

Job Growth: 2.7 percent

Job Growth: 2.7 percent

Job Growth: 3 percent

Job Growth: 3.9 percent

Job Growth: 4.2 percent

Job Growth: 4.2 percent
Source: National Association of Realtors
Metro areas were chosen based on millennial presence, local job market conditions and migration patterns of young adults. Rankings were based on employment data, median home prices, home price growth and affordability, as well as the percentage of millennials living in the metro area and their share of all age groups moving to the area. Median home prices data is for the first quarter of 2014, while job growth figures are for the 12 months through May 2014.
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