The property market may be cooling, but millennials are having their smashed avo and eating it too.
The number of first home buyers is on the rise, particularly in NSW following the introduction of the First Home Owners Grant in 2017. With prices in the property market falling and less investor activity, 2019 is the year of the first home buyer. Recent data from WestpacLife also shows that the most common savings goal for their 25-34 year old customers is buying property, with 10 times more money put away for a deposit than for travel.
Reaching adulthood at the turn of the 21st century, millennials have received the most marketing attention of any generation and can see through traditional sales tactics. Here’s our advice for strategically marketing to millennial first-home buyers in an uncertain, oversupplied marketplace:
Sell the purpose, not the property
Millennials are incredibly conscious of their environmental and ethical footprint, which directly impacts their purchase motivations. Highlighting your project’s beautiful interiors should be secondary to its eco-cred, such as energy-efficient design features or sustainability ratings. If you genuinely can’t tick those boxes, heavily promote the access to outdoor spaces, whether it be shared gardens, local parks or recreational facilities.
While pricing is always important, the most critical thing for millennials is that your product speaks to them on a more substantial level. Don’t underestimate their intelligence and emotional drivers.
Do as the digital natives do
As the first generation to be raised with the internet, millennials are highly proficient in online research. They’ll be attracted to a property project with a strong social media presence where they can get a more authentic sense of lifestyle, plus a website with all the information upfront. Withholding key details until users hand over their personal info will be a barrier to generating leads in this age bracket.
Millennials will also find continual phone calls from a sales agent bothersome. They’ll only want to chat when they’re ready to have a specific conversation. So, don’t rush them!
Talk to the whole family
We like to use the term millennial as a substitute for ‘young’, yet millennials were born roughly between 1980 and 2000, making the earliest ones almost 40 years old! This aligns perfectly with the average Sydney homebuyer being 38 years old and already parents. In fact, according to Vice’s recent survey on Australian youth, millennials call their family and friends the number one thing that defines them as a person- ahead of money, career and interests.
Therefore, marketing property to millennials needs to communicate a lifestyle that fits in with their existing family life. The same survey also cited ‘spending time with family and friends’ as their most common downtime activity, so you need to show the various ways in which your project will facilitate this. Whether it’s in spacious living rooms and balconies, or communal pool and barbecue areas- it’s hugely important.
More than ever, millennials are a viable, valuable prospect as a first home buyer- if you know how to engage them. Get in touch with Heard Agency today if you’d like to learn more about this growing marketshare.
