Millennials – The New Property Investment Generation

Despite widespread uncertainty across global markets, many millennials still want to buy a property and are ready to stamp their mark on the real estate industry.

Tech-savvy younger generations may soon be creating a vital impact on the real estate sector making themselves valuable players in the industry, if they haven’t already done so. After years of resisting buying property, millennials are pinning their hopes on real estate to build long-term wealth. Illustrating this, is data from a recent Bankrate Financial Security Survey which showed that 36% of American millennials preferred real estate as a long-term investment, choosing it over the stock market, cash investments, and cryptocurrency, when asked how they would prefer to invest money they wouldn't need for 10 years.

When it comes to home purchasing, global millennials are latecomers compared to previous generations. While research suggests millennials may be more interested in purchasing homes than their parents, they are slower to buy due to inadequate income which makes it difficult to save for a down payment. Wages have been quite stagnant, on average, over the last 15 years, all while the cost of living, education and housing has skyrocketed. Asian millennials are better off as they tend to get a helping hand from parents eager to make sure that their children have a roof over their heads.

But there is also a category of high-net-worth (HNW) millennials from second generation business families or successful startup entrepreneurs who have made a fortune and can now afford to buy properties worldwide.

Most high-net-worth buyers have been educated overseas and tend to buy their second home abroad - the UK, US, Australia - where they used to study. Countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines however, which don’t place too many restrictions on foreign buyers unlike New Zealand, Canada and Australia, are also proving popular investment destinations.