At 75 million strong, Generation Y –- the population group born in the late 1980s through the 1990s -– has the potential to affect the housing market as profoundly as the baby boomer generation, making a mark that is as different as it is powerful, according to industry experts at ULI’s annual fall meeting in Las Vegas.
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."
Developers seeking to score points with this generation will offer housing that appeals to their individuality by providing distinct architecture, bold colors, flexible floor space, ample amenities tailored to their interests (think super fitness centers), and which meets their demands for connectivity -- both in terms of wireless hook-ups and transit options that quickly, efficiently get them from one place to another.
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.
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