How Millennials Are Redefining The Housing Market

A lot of people talk about baby boomers in relationship to the housing market – that generation, now retired, that benefited from decent-sized homes that were actually affordable relative to average salaries – but what about millennials?

This younger generation may be struggling to get on the property ladder as easily, but they are still having an impact on the housing market as a whole.

Millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1996, are now the largest cohort of homebuyers. In this article we’ll take a look at exactly how this tech-savvy generation is reshaping the housing market.

Who Are The Millennial Home Buyers?

Where the baby boomers may have been married with kids and their own homes by the time they hit 30, millennials have a very different approach and tend to it these milestones significantly later in life. Partly this is due to finances, including managing student debt, but it’s also a more relaxed attitude towards ticking off what were once considered essentials. 

For millennials, affordability is a top concern and so first homes are often smaller than they might have been several decades ago. They’re also more willing to look outside the big cities to find somewhere affordable, something that has been facilitated by more flexible working and a huge increase in home-working. 

The Rise Of The Online Estate Agent

One of the most significant shifts in the housing market driven by millennials is the growing preference for using online platforms to buy and sell homes. This could be platforms that pull together details from traditional estate agents into one space online, or it could be a standalone online agent, selling directly to the public without a physical office space. Being able to access services like virtual tours saves people time and money and makes homebuying feel a lot more efficient and accessible.

One of the main advantages of online estate agents is of course cost. Without having to pay for premises and all of the costs that go along with that, they can keep prices low, both for buyers and sellers, which is a huge draw for millennials as cash is tight. They also tend to have more transparent fees than in the past, making them feel more trustworthy.

Technology And The Future Of Home Buying

Millennials have grown up alongside the internet, smartphones and social media, and so it’s natural that they’d be doing their house hunting online too. They expect seamless digital interactions throughout the process, whether it’s searching for properties, getting a mortgage or closing a deal, and online estate agents cater to these expectations by offering tools like 3D tours, digital paperwork solutions and even AI-driven property recommendations.

We’re a long way from the days when house hunting meant browsing the printed details that lined the walls of your local estate agents and as more millennials enter the market, we can expect even greater integration of technology in every aspect of buying and selling homes. From blockchain-enabled transactions to augmented reality home tours, the future of real estate is becoming increasingly digital.