Housing patterns for the Younger Crowd
The ULI does it again in this piece from their annual meeting held in the urban sprawling metropolis of Las Vegas…
http://thegroundfloor.typepad.com/the_ground_floor/2007/10/gen-y-and-housi.html
The first observations are interesting to note. I don’t know where they obtained these data and how valid they are, but I can relate to what these data indicate. The vast majority of my colleagues and friends desire similar such areas to find a home.
Some takeaways from this session:
What Gen Y members don’t want: big houses on big lots, isolated from everything.
What they do want:
housing that fulfills their need for instant access and convenience.With the oldest members of Generation Y (those in their mid-20s)
starting to enter the housing market, the characteristics of this
demanding, strong-willed generation provide many clues to their
preferences in living arrangements.
For instance, they:Favor the quirky, unique and different.
Seek diversity in all aspects of their lives.
Prefer urban over suburban environments.
Multi-task (One observation: “Most don’t wear watches because watches only do one thing.”
The second interesting observation is the change in demographics - changing households from couples, young males being replaced by single-women households.
One key signal of a housing shakeup resulting from Gen Y: changes in
household formation and more single Gen Y women entering the housing
market. In the years ahead, look for the decades-long prevalence of
married couples with children to be increasingly replaced with
single-women households. With more women than men now graduating from
college, women in many markets will soon be making more than men,
placing women in a position of affluence and authority that will affect
housing decisions. Because they will likely delay marriage to pursue
careers, their housing choices will be far different than those made by
their baby boomer mothers. The likely favorite: close-in multifamily
rental or for-sale units in mixed-use communities that emphasize
communal space and social interaction. “This bodes well for urban
communities,” one panelist said.
Powered by ScribeFire.