Millennials seem to dictate the real estate life style with their sophisticated taste. Their niche is keeping it small, stylish, functional and flexible. In this report, Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie looks at how their home preference has dominated the real estate market
There was a time that large buildings with multiple rooms dominate the real estate sphere. Not minding that the owners may not make use of two or three rooms in a year. Economic factors, life style have changed all that. The Fintech generation prefers co-working office space, functional apartments, rather big sized homes without functionality. This was made more daring during the COVID- 19 pandemic when people worked from functional homes.
In a summit with the theme: ‘How millennials redefined real estate market’, organised to reconnect industry leaders and highlight opportunities in the real estate market among millennials.
A real estate firm, Bricks and Towers speaking through its Chief Executive Officer Operating, Leah Ademola, said millennials who are between the ages of 25 and 40 years are the largest market; she explained that they are the younger generation that is making their first entry into property acquisition.
“The younger people, the smaller families, are venturing into things that are compact. What we do is take away the risk and make it easy for them to go through all the processes,” Ademola said.
She said developing inexpensive items by building on smaller plots of land and optimising what they can build on each plot of land is one way to make property ownership more accessible to the younger generation.
“We have different layouts. We have 2 bedrooms, one bedroom, studio apartments that young people can afford to buy. Because the millennials are just starting to build their investment portfolio, they don’t have a lot of money, you want to be able to take out small portions of your salaries,” she added
Chief Executive Officer of XD properties , lfeoma Obed said her company’s role is to provide peace of mind, homes for clients, and service to the public as well as provide building construction service to developers.
“What we want to continue to do is to provide value to our clients and service to the public who are the end-users of everyday building and the product we build,” Obed said.
Citing Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, Obed said people in their mid to late 20s have a uniquely distinct taste. “Their homeownership dreams are very different and are different from the dreams of previous generations,”
Stating what the future holds, Obed emphasised the need for a radical shift and improvement in customer relationship management, flexible policy on housing, and institutional partnerships among other solutions. According to her, the millennials are so impatient that they want almost all the services in one package.’” They are so impatient that they can fit into the traditional house types and sizes. Another of their characteristics is that they are always evolving, as operators come up with new designs and multiple functions that will help make their lifestyle easier.
Former UPDC Managing Director, Hakeem Oguniran who is also the Founder/CEO, Eximia Realty Company Ltd. could not agree less with the millennials. He said before it became fashionable his firm already made the decision to build studio flats, 1 and 2 bedroom flats. He said that is where the market is as young people do not want to be burdened with big houses and turn around to look for a way out in maintenance or looking for a way to offload it when they want to move.
Another Developer Ezekiel Alfred contributing said the millennials also influence the colour and materials used in construction. “The good thing about them is that if they are impressed, they will tell their friends and you keep getting enquiries and closing deals. For any developer in the emerging markets, it is a good deal anytime, he added.
