Will Generation Y Lead Us Out Of Our Housing Doldrums?
April 12th, 2010 categories: Chicago Real Estate News, Economic Recovery, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers
Once in a while, I’ll stumble across a newspaper story that reminds me of the importance of in-depth, analytical reporting. I came across one of these April 2 in the Chicago Tribune, an analysis of the home-buying needs of Generation Y buyers by writer John Handley.
Handley’s story focused on the importance of this group of buyers. It quoted Chicago-area real estate experts who predicted that Gen Y buyers will lead Chicago and the nation out of their long housing slumps.
There are several reasons that the experts cited for this. First, there are simply a lot of Gen Y buyers. According to the Tribune story, there were 75 million people born between 1982 and 1995. These are the members of the Gen Y generation, and they are now in their 20s. They’re entering, or are already in, their home-buying years. Simply put, this means that there are more potential buyers now entering the market, which should lead to an increase in housing sales.
The story also mentions that Gen Y buyers purchase homes at earlier ages, and that they tend to spend more money on these first residences.
And once Gen Y buyers purchase their first homes, they become future buyers of larger, more expensive residences. Like other generations before them, they’ll buy first homes, live in them for a certain number of years and then upgrade. This should all equal a significant number of future home sales.
What impact have the Generation Y buyers had on the housing market today? Builders are creating homes designed to appeal to these younger buyers. This means smaller, more-efficient homes. It also means more home that are high-tech, homes that are wired for high-speed Internet connections.
If the Generation Y buyers behave as the housing-market experts predict, it will mean good things for the future of both the residential real estate industry in Chicago and across the nation.
