The Sleeping (Millennial) Giant Awakens

The Millennial homebuyer has been extremely disadvantaged due to a lack of more affordable home options in the markets combined with new competition from institutional and individual investors, not to mention competing with the entities offering to buy your home with all-cash offers to sell at a profit or rent. Affordability is a growing concern and I'm not sure what the solution is in a world where land, labor, materials and regulatory costs keep rising. Today I want to address the Millennial buyers (now 25-40 years old) who DO have the means to buy.....this sleeping GIANT that exists amongst this 72 million-strong US demographic has boldly awakened in 2021....and Compass' blow-out Q2 results showcased just how potent this buying audience is.

Millennials who have a longer life expectancy appear to be forming households at a later age than prior generations, but now many are armed and motivated to buy homes and the demand far outstrips supply. Where is their wealth coming from?

- Many are burdened with college debt, but some are emerging from this.

- Many are climbing in their careers.

- Many have been saving and investing in stocks.

- Many are beneficiaries of new industries and companies going public.

- Many are beneficiaries of the GREAT WEALTH TRANSFER - over $60 TRILLION. Yes, Millennials' parents and grandparents are not only delivering inheritance, but they are also gifting and diversifying estates small, large and huge, due to recent concerns about the potential of new estate and wealth taxation.

Even if only 10% of millennials - 7 million people - enter the home buying market, that's more than the number of homes sold in all of 2020 to ALL demographics. You do the math. The demand for housing is here to stay for many, many years to come!