Last Updated on October 27, 2022 by Lamudi
In 2Q 2022, property seekers aged below 35 contributed to roughly half of all pageviews on Lamudi real estate listings. Real estate industry experts attribute the generation’s increasing presence in the property market to easy access to information from a young age and their entrepreneurial mindsets.
New Attitudes Toward Investment
Millennials and Gen Z have different approaches towards saving and investing that may enable them to make sound purchases such as real estate at a young age. Equipped with exposure to global trends, millennials know what they want when making a purchase and are willing to “put a premium on exclusive items,” according to a McKinsey report.
“Millennials are more global… they are intelligent and do their research; they always look at amenities,” said panelist Gie Garcia, Managing Director of Property Management at NEO, during the Residential and Office Trends Reshaping the Market panel at Lamudi’s The Outlook 2022: Philippine Real Estate Conference last August.
“Younger seekers are more self aware,” added panelist Val Soliven, Rockwell Land Chief Revenue Officer. “Those in real estate in their 20s to 30s are more educated, more enterprising — they have both a corporate job and side hustle,” said Soliven.
Growing up in a digitized economy and starting their adult lives amid an economic recession, Gen Zers have a more practical approach towards investment and leverage tech and online platforms to earn and invest.
Seeing the value in intangible assets, Forbes reported that younger property seekers are more open to cryptocurrency and new financial instruments compared to previous generations. Gen Z are more bullish on putting money in non-fungible tokens, crowdfunding technology, and other emerging financial structures in order to make a profit.
Enabling Market for Young Property Seekers
Changes in work and lifestyle trends during the pandemic have influenced the way younger people spend and invest. Throughout the pandemic, Lamudi saw activity from younger property seekers increase. “[With an] increase in disposable income and [being] unable to spend on leisure, they are looking for new ways to spend their money,” said Lamudi’s Associate Director for Corporate Accounts Mark Bailey during the conference.
This is further enabled by an increasing openness to remote work. Working remotely allows employees to save on gas and commute expenses, as well as opt to live in locations more affordable than neighborhoods near the office.
In an article by Nasdaq, proptech CEO Shri Ganeshram mentioned that “many Gen Zers were part of remote-first workplaces, allowing them to afford real estate earlier in their career.”
During the pandemic, several young adults also moved back to their hometowns following the closure of schools and hospitals and may have been fortunate enough to depend on their parents for housing and utilities.
The emergence of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the country over the last few years have also made entry to property investment more accessible to all. Through REITs, younger people are able to invest in real estate with a few years of accumulated experience and income, or even as students.
For more information on Lamudi’s The Outlook 2022: Philippine Real Estate Conference, visit https://bit.ly/TheOutlook2022.
Sources: Forbes, McKinsey, Nasdaq
