The fact that Generation Y isn’t interested in McMansions is hardly surprising. Strikes me more as human nature, and something the real estate/construction market should have considered. From music to technology we draw generational lines. It’s a given. And this generation’s offspring will probably rediscover the McMansion. Such is life.
The question is: Can the real estate market bounce back quickly if what they’re selling doesn’t appeal to their new consumers?
Here’s what Generation Y doesn’t want: formal living rooms, soaker bathtubs, dependence on a car. In other words, they don’t want their parents’ homes.
Much of this week’s National Association of Home Builders conference has dwelled on the housing needs of an aging baby boomer population. But their children actually represent an even larger demographic. An estimated 80 million people comprise the category known as “Gen Y,” youth born roughly between 1980 and the early 2000s. The boomers, meanwhile, boast 76 million.
Gen Y housing preferences are the subject of at least two panels at this week’s convention. A key finding: They want to walk everywhere. Surveys show that 13% carpool to work, while 7% walk, said Melina Duggal, a principal with Orlando-based real estate adviser RCLCO. A whopping 88% want to be in an urban setting, but since cities themselves can be so expensive, places with shopping, dining and transit such as Bethesda and Arlington in the Washington suburbs will do just fine.
“One-third are willing to pay for the ability to walk,” Ms. Duggal said. “They don’t want to be in a cookie-cutter type of development. …The suburbs will need to evolve to be attractive to Gen Y.”
Outdoor space is important—but please, just a place to put the grill and have some friends over. Lawn-mowing not desired. Amenities such as fitness centers, game rooms and party rooms are important (“Is the room big enough to host a baby shower?” a millennial might think). “Outdoor fire pits,” suggested Tony Weremeichik of Canin Associates, an architecture firm in Orlando. “Consider designing outdoor spaces as if they were living rooms.”
KTGY Group residential designer David Senden christened the subset of the generation delaying marriage and family as “dawdlers.”
Dawdlers? Because they aren’t buying what he’s selling? Perhaps instead of name-calling and blaming Mr. Senden can explain why he wasn’t savvy enough to spot the inevitable coming. After all, kids rejecting their parents’ lifestyle choices is hardly uncommon.
Mr. Pandora and I live in the city and I wouldn’t be the least surprised if my children chose not to… because that’s what kids do. They forge a new way – which may have more in common with grandparents’, and great-grandparents’, way. It’s a cycle, and one the real estate/construction industry should have planned for.