The Changing Face of Real Estate: Who's Buying, What Are They Buying?
The National Association of REALTORS® has been studying home buyers and sellers by generation since 2013. The Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report looks at both the differences and similarities of the generations. The report also looks at how the generations affect the real estate industry.
This report is very important because it details who is increasing in numbers in the market and who is decreasing. This is critical information for builders, developers, real estate agents and remodelers.
Some of the highlights include the following:
The largest share of home buyers over the past four years has consistently been the Generation Y demographic (Millennials 36 years old and younger). They represent over 34% of all buyers in the market place.
The Millennials also had a large student debt burden. Over 46 percent of buyers in this demographic had student loan debt with a median loan balance of $25,000.
Buyers aged 37 to 51 also were burdened by student debt but a smaller number of this age group totaling 27 percent have student loan debt. Their student loan debt median balance is even higher than the Millennials at $30,000.
The buyers in the 52 to 61 year old age group were the buyers most likely to buy a multi-generational home.
Buyers in the 62 to 70 year old age group are the most likely to move out of their original area with more flexibility when choosing their new location to live. Many are moving closer to children or relatives and some are even choosing to move out of state.
The most important finding had to do with how these generations prefer to find their home and ALL generations said they preferred to work with a real estate agent. In an industry where everyone seems to want to take a piece of the real estate agents earning pie, this is great news. Real estate agents are a very important part of the real estate transaction and buyers of all generations unanimously agree with that.
So the next time anyone tells you that real estate agents will soon be a thing of the past, ignore it!
By Denise Lones CSP, M.I.R.M., CDEI - The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones, brings over two decades of experience in the real estate industry. With expertise in strategic marketing, business analysis, branding, new home project planning, product development, and agent/broker training, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.
