Monday, November 27, 2006
GEN X to the rescue.
Generationeneration X May Boost
Sagging Real-Estate Market
By Kristen Gerencher, Wall Street Journal
The housing market may be in a slump, but the
industry's long-term trends look promising as
younger generations begin to buy and trade
up. That was the consensus among a group of
consultants, analysts and developers speaking
at the recent annual meeting of the Urban
Land Institute in Denver.
Rising affordability concerns in some home
and rental markets remain a challenge, but the
generations coming up behind the baby
boomers are giving home builders a run for
their money, experts said. With more
immigration and people living alone,
demographic shifts are pressing developers to
reconsider what's worked in the past.
Generation X, typically defined as those born
between 1965 and 1979, comprise a little
more than half of the market for newly
constructed homes, said James Chung,
president of Reach Advisors, a Boston-based
marketing strategy and research firm.
But that doesn't mean the homes that lured
baby boomers, born between 1946 and
1964, are meeting the needs of the 30-
somethings shopping now.
"Generation X is in the heart of their entry-
level home-buying years and are just now
entering their peak trade-up years," Chung
said. "They haven't yet stolen the thunder of
the boomers when it comes to trade-up homes.
It's a big shift coming up for home builders
and developers."
Sagging Real-Estate Market
By Kristen Gerencher, Wall Street Journal
The housing market may be in a slump, but the
industry's long-term trends look promising as
younger generations begin to buy and trade
up. That was the consensus among a group of
consultants, analysts and developers speaking
at the recent annual meeting of the Urban
Land Institute in Denver.
Rising affordability concerns in some home
and rental markets remain a challenge, but the
generations coming up behind the baby
boomers are giving home builders a run for
their money, experts said. With more
immigration and people living alone,
demographic shifts are pressing developers to
reconsider what's worked in the past.
Generation X, typically defined as those born
between 1965 and 1979, comprise a little
more than half of the market for newly
constructed homes, said James Chung,
president of Reach Advisors, a Boston-based
marketing strategy and research firm.
But that doesn't mean the homes that lured
baby boomers, born between 1946 and
1964, are meeting the needs of the 30-
somethings shopping now.
"Generation X is in the heart of their entry-
level home-buying years and are just now
entering their peak trade-up years," Chung
said. "They haven't yet stolen the thunder of
the boomers when it comes to trade-up homes.
It's a big shift coming up for home builders
and developers."
