Ten years ago, when the Millennial crowd was still in their twenties, they showed little to no interest in starting a family or settling down. However, nowadays, this generation accounts for the largest part of the consumer crowd. This, of course, is reflected in all areas of the modern business world, including the real estate industry.
As the currently largest force among homebuyers, the Millennial generation is bound to change this field as it did every other. In order to appeal to this unique consumer base, the professionals from the real estate industry will need to familiarize themselves with this crowd’s specific needs and desires. Here, we’ll explore some of the ways Millennials are changing the real estate industry and mention what they are most interested in when it comes to homeownership.
Why wait?
In order to understand a huge gap in home buying and homeownership that happened between Gen X and Gen Y, we must first try to understand Millennials a bit better. This generation ranges from individuals born in the 1980s to the ones born in the early 2000s. This means that younger Millennials are now in their late teens while the older ones are nearing 40. Since Millennials are already famous for the fact that they tend to wait a bit longer than the previous generations to form a family – and starting a family is one of the top triggers when it comes to buying a house – it becomes quite obvious why the market has been experiencing some standstill. That being said, the older Millennials are now looking for places to settle down and they know exactly what they want.
What are they looking for?
While the Millennials were once perceived as the generation that’s mostly city-oriented, the truth is that they actually don’t mind settling down in the suburbs. However, since this generation was more likely to rent apartments – simply because they’re cheaper – and opt to share their living space with numerous roommates, the common misconception almost became the universal truth. Millennials are usually looking for houses in good school districts but if they are not able to fully afford them, they wouldn’t mind sacrificing extra finished space or choose to drive further to work/school. On the other side of the coin, while they may choose to compromise about the distance, they absolutely won’t compromise about the quality of the house or the materials it is made of.
Why do materials matter so much?
Since Millennials are arguably more eco-conscious than any previous generation, it is understandable that they want their houses to affect the environment as minimal as possible. That’s why they are far more likely to choose a house that is sustainable and eco-friendly than the one that simply looks nice or is in a great neighborhood. The real estate market took notice of this in some areas of the world. That’s why, for instance, in Australia, you can find professionals that are offering young homebuyers the opportunity to build their own homes and have a bigger share in the whole construction process. For this precise reason, Sydneysiders are far more likely to opt for durable project homes in Sydney than to choose a pre-built home that doesn’t really meet their standards.
A personalized approach
Finally, while the previous generations usually found their realtors through Yellow Pages and similar ads, Millennials are looking for a more personalized approach. Since this generation is so tightly intertwined with technology, it really comes as no surprise that this is their preferred method of looking for any type of service. The real estate professionals who’ve managed to recognize this trend are already in the lead compared to their competition. Actually, according to research, around 81% of Millennials managed to find their dream houses through a mobile app. That’s why the real estate industry should focus even more on creating and implementing other technological breakthroughs in their offers, as the next generations will only be even more technology-dependent.
Millennials are certainly a significantly different crowd than any previous generations. However, if industry professionals start catering to their needs more, they will be better prepared for all future generations to come. Besides, one of the reasons Millennials are so different is the fact that they basically grew up and developed alongside technology which certainly had a huge impact on the way they do things.
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