The Millennial Game

Recently, our office has had a lot of conversations about "millennials" and the challenges or questions they are presenting in today's market so we thought it would be a good topic to discuss in this week's blog.

 So first things first. Who are "they"? "Millennials" (also referred to as Gen Y) are the group of people born in the 1980's- early 1990's who now number almost 79 million! They have surpassed "Baby Boomers" in size and are well noted for their love of technology, independent thinking, and delay in settling down.

So why are they making such a big impact on the real estate market? Although it is hard to characterize millions of people with 1 or 2 similar traits, it has been noted that this generation is a different kind of buyer than those of Gen X and Baby Boomers. A recent article in the Oregon Real Estate News Journal noted, "...millennials are less likely to be homeowners than previous generations and that the pace of household formations and rate at which they head their own household have also fallen. It (a 2014 Council of Economic Advisors' report) also noted the increase of young people living with parents. The consequence for the housing market is obvious- less demand for housing units and all that fill them. However, the reasons cited for these changes are not all bad".

So, we see and feel the effects of this change but there are perhaps bigger socioeconomic reasons driving this change and we, as a community of realtors, need to focus on the solution not the problem. Perhaps this means more rentals, condos, buyer assistance programs, etc. Perhaps this means new and innovative forms of marketing via social media and networking as opposed to "old school" mailers. Regardless of what this ideological shift in home ownership may bring, we look toward the future with open minds and a reminder that we are in an industry that is constantly changing so the only that is constant, is change.