The Gen Z demographic (those born between 1997-2012) might be young right now, but they represent a huge portion of the population and many are already starting to buy their first homes.
For real estate agents who have just become used to dealing with Millennials, the Gen Z’ers represent a massive opportunity, but will also require new levels of understanding and marketing tactics to appeal to this growing market.
Tech Generation
A predominant characteristic of the Gen Z demographic is that they are tech-savvy, with the ability to learn and understand new technologies with minimal training. Their intuition guides their use, and agents will need to be able to communicate and market to them accordingly.
The iPhone was released in 2007, when much of this generation was in early primary school, kindergarten and some not even born yet. For the most part, all this generation have known is smartphones. Fortunately, marketing through smartphones and channels like social media will be highly effective for this demographic, as much of their time is spent online.
Similarly, the Gen Z demographic will also put a lot of weight onto what they hear from influencers. They are likely to buy or sell with an agent who has a strong social media following as this gives them a degree of trust in that person.
Learn more about social media marketing for real estate agencies iin this blog article.
Higher Leverage
With house prices rising so much in recent years, most Gen Z’ers would have never seen a prolonged fall in property prices.
As such, they may also prepared to borrow more than previous generations. Years ago an 80% LVR was considered normal. With programs in place like the FHLDS (First Home Loan Deposit Scheme) and with other things like guarantor loans, a 95% loan is more common for the Gen Z demographic.
Agents will need to understand that for this group of homebuyers, it has never been more difficult to save for a deposit and house prices have never been so unaffordable. In the years ahead, agents should expect to see higher LVR loans and they need to be prepared to educate their vendors on this new type of home buyer.
Affordability
It’s no secret that Sydney and Melbourne house prices have risen so much that they are unaffordable for the vast majority of young people today.
Given that’s unlikely to change in the near future, members of Gen Z are being forced to take a different approach when buying properties.
Increasingly, many younger people are looking to buy a property in a vibrant community that is more affordable. That typically means looking to the outer suburbs and regional areas.
Low-cost living outside of big cities is increasingly important to Gen Z members, given many are also very financially savvy and value knowledge about personal finance. While they might be prepared to take on higher LVR loans, they still don’t want to be weighed down by huge debts that they will be forced to repay for the rest of their lives.
Creativity
In years gone by, a couple would get married, buy a home, raise their children, and live in that home for the rest of their lives.
With house prices now so high and the fact that it may take two incomes to simply get a mortgage, many in the Gen Z demographic are going to need to get creative to buy their family home.
This will likely mean upgrading their way through various sizes of homes over many years. Or taking on creative strategies like rentvesting in a bid to climb the ladder.
Gen Z will need to be far more active in their real estate transactions than any other generation. For sales agents, this is a good thing but will require you to start laying the foundations and building relationships with these people today.
