Monday, July 12, 2010

Generation Y Housing Trends

My wife forwarded me an article she thought would make an interesting basis for a blog entry. The article, written by Mary Umberger and appearing on Boston.com on July 6, identified housing trends for Generation Y members, which it defined as persons born from approximately 1977 through 1989.

Here are the highlights:

This generation will tend to purchase their first homes later than prior generations. They tend to travel and/or go to graduate school. In addition, they are dealing with the adverse economic issues of the last few years. While I agree with the general premise, the article's estimate of age 35 for most first-time Generation Y buyers seems high. I believe the age will be closer to 30.

As far as their desires, Generation Y buyers seem to prefer locations closer to cities and public transportation than did their predecessors. They are willing to work with smaller homes, but require open concepts. A little land and a garage are important, whereas a formal dining area is not. I disagree with the article's premise that media and game rooms are not important to these buyers. Most of my clients in this age range are very focussed on an adult playroom, as well as where they are going to hang a large-screen television.

With the above said, sadly for me, I am not a member of Generation Y, so I would be interested in hearing the thoughts of those of you who are. Regardless of your age, feel free to let me know what is important to you in a home in order to keep me apprised of market trends.

As always, contact me via cell (978-423-9309) or email (john@jw-realestate.com) with any comments or questions. Clients, be sure to contact me soon to reserve your tickets to our annual company outing - the Saturday, July 31 (5pm) Lowell Spinners game!

1 comment:

Patrick said...
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