The millennial property seekers

MILLENNIALS or Generation Y still account for one of the largest group of Business Process Outsourcing ( BPO) workers in the Philippines. As many of their members join the workforce, the real estate market continues to see an increase of millennial real estate buyers. Aside from being known for their specific taste, their “me” tendencies and being internet savvy, developers have still a lot to know about this growing millennial market.

Two studies published by two property search portals revealed the millennials’ most searched data and preferences in terms of buying a property.

In 2016, global property portal Lamudi released a study of the most searched information by its millennial users. It shows the age, gender, locations and assumptions of why these searches were made.

According to the website, the highest searches came from millennials who were aged 25 and 70% of them were in their mid-20s. Lamudi assumes that this might be because millennials around this age may have already received tenure at work.

Of these searches, 68% were made by women. Lamudi stated that this might be linked to women’s “nesting” tendencies and more family- oriented goals.

Most of the searches conducted in that year came from Quezon City, Makati and Cebu, places that are known to house BPO and Information Technology (IT) hubs. The assumption is that its workers were considering living near their place of work.

The preferred location for houses for millennials were Quezon City, Makati and Cebu. Lamudi links this to the presence of many BPO, IT hubs and schools in these key cities

Meanwhile, in 2015, another property search portal Zipmatch conducted a flash survey with 10 millennial respondents. It revealed why millennials bought properties and listed their preferences in terms of convenience.

The survey revealed their respondents’ saving habit. According to Zipmatch, three respondents put 20% of their earnings into their savings while 12% don’t have savings yet. When it comes to paying for the property, 50% preferred to give a cash deposit and pay the other half with a Pag-IBIG loan or a bank loan.

In addition, the survey disclosed why their millennial respondents bought homes. Four out of 10 respondents shared that they bought homes because of a promotion, two bought homes because they got married, and two others bought homes as an investment.

On deciding when to buy a home, four out of 10 respondents consulted with their parents while 33% used online website reviews.

Zipmatch’s survey also revealed that location is still the number one priority for most of its respondents when it comes to property features. Convenience was equally important as 40% of these respondents are looking for properties located and are near shopping malls and night spots. Almost 70% of these respondents would like to live “within or near a mall, especially if they are staying in a condominium.” Around 30% want to live near their place of work.

Most of the respondents preferred to buy a property that’s move-in ready while only 38% were willing to buy pre-selling condominium.

When it came to deciding what type of property they want to buy, most of the respondents still want a conventional home. According to Zipmatch, only 27% preferred living in a condominium and more than 30% were already saving for their dream home. —