Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/134956
Market Update ("BINGO! U.S. Housing Market Finally Getting Its Numbers" continued from page 30) Gen Y's Big Impact on Future Housing Demand Gen Y. Millenials. Echo Boomers. Whatever you call them, they're the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s. Roughly 80 million strong, this group of people comprises about one-third of our nation's population, representing a critical segment of today's population with the highest impact on the housing industry. Now in their 20s and 30s, Millenials are described as having a prolonged adolescence – aka delayed entrance to adulthood. They are pursuing higher education, incurring significant student loan debt and living at home longer. Once they form their own households, they often choose to live alone for longer periods of time before getting married. "We're taking our time to grow up," explains Kaitlin Jackson, a project manager for Heartland, LLC, a real estate advisory firm in Seattle. In addition, many Echo Boomers graduated right before or during the recession, so they are more mobile job-wise, either as entrepreneurs or as employees who haven't found a job they expect to hold longer than five years. When they can't find a job they love, they create their own, as evidenced by the huge popularity of crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter, where entrepreneurs raise funds for their passion projects. "We like to find ways around existing norms to do the things we want to do," Jackson said. According to Jackson, a Gen Y'er herself, owning things is not a high priority for her generation. "This devaluing of traditional status symbols is changing the way we think about things that we own and the space that we need," she said. Millenials are also known as the sharing generation, sharing their lives on social media sites like Facebook and Tumblr but also on user-generated content sites like Yelp and Airbnb. They value great experiences, intergenerational living (i.e., living at home with their parents) and collaborative work spaces. Living Trends As a generation, Gen Y exhibits characteristics that have a direct impact on their housing needs. One key difference between Gen Y and previous generations is that they prefer living alone after leaving their family home. They often grew up living in the suburbs with spacious homes and yards, and they didn't have to share their bedrooms. This translates to not wanting roommates, so they need less living space. In addition, Millenials are often pet people, so pet-friendly amenities like dog washing stations and dog parks are important. Single members of Gen Y require less living space, but want space for storing their kayaks, skis and bikes. Jackson explains that Gen Y places less of a sense of their identity on housing and homes than other generations. Instead, they are focused more on self-expression. They want to be out and about, spending less time at home and sharing their lives online on Instagram, Faceook and Twitter. "The things that we do are what define us. We want to live in great neighborhoods, have hip retail and new trends nearby, and we want to have cool experiences," said Jackson. "Our living room is the six block radius around our home." In terms of home ownership, Millenials are not in a position to buy homes fresh out of college and into their early 30s. They still value how and where they grew up and are optimistic about the future, but they have significant student loan debt and aren't settled into their dream job yet. "I don't think this is deterring Gen Y from home ownership in general," Jackson said. "However, our timing to enter the ownership market is delayed." Advertisers' Index 4D Excavator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARGO - Extreme Terrain Vehicles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Bell Trucks of America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 BidSpotter.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 BOKF Equipment Finance Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Charter Software Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Dispatching Solutions, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 EPG Insurance, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Gensco America, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 HKX, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Infor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 John Deere Power Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Kobelco Construction Machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC LayMor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Leading Edge Attachments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Light Engineering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Okada America, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 PFW Systems Corporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 SANY Heavy Industry Co., LTD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sentry Insurance Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Solesbee's Equip. & Attachments Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Strickland MFG, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Sullivan-Palatek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Vacuworx International. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Wacker Neuson Corporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Wells Fargo Equipment Finance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Werk-Brau Company, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC Woods Equipment Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 XAPT Corporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OBC As the official magazine of Associated Equipment Distributors, this publication carries authoritative notices and articles in regard to the activities of the association. In all other respects, the association cannot be responsible for the contents thereof or the opinions of contributors. Copyright © 2013 by Associated Equipment Distributors. Construction Equipment Distribution (ISSN0010-6755) is published monthly as the official journal of Associated Equipment Distributors. Subscription rate — $39 per year for members; $79 per year for nonmembers. Office of publication: 600 W. 22nd St., 220, Oak Brook, Ill. Phone: 630-574-0650. Periodicals postage at Hinsdale, Ill. 60521 and other post offices. Additional entry, Pontiac, Ill. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Construction Equipment Distribution, 600 W. 22nd St., Suite 220, Oak Brook, Ill. 60523 56 | www.cedmag.com | Construction Equipment Distribution | June 2013 26_Housing_Feature_Index_KP.indd 56 5/31/13 12:36 PM