The Semi-Suburb Real Estate Trend: Millennials Moving From Cities

Why Are Millennials Choosing Semi-Suburbs Over Cities?

“Despite the image of the tech-crazed, city-loving Millennial, most of them have their sights set on the suburbs, just like the generations before them.”

Does reading this sentence surprise you at all? If you’ve always assumed that millennials prefer cities to suburbs of any variety, it might be a bit shocking. However, many young buyers are opting to live in high-density “semi-suburbs” that are located just outside of a city’s core.

If you’d like to target this market in your real estate business, here’s what you need to know.

Why do Millennials Prefer the Semi-Suburbs?

A survey from the National Association of Realtors found that the percentage of millennials who bought in an urban or central city area decreased from 21% to 17% from 2014 to 2015.

Why is this real estate trend occuring? Millennials enjoy the semi-suburbs for some of the same reasons that cities are appealing.

Millennials Want Walkable Communities

They want their communities to be walkable so that they can shop, dine and socialize without having to hop in the car. Shorter commutes are also massively appealing, since this group doesn’t want to deal with long, busy commutes.

Millennials Want to be Close to Their Loved Ones

Proximity to family and friends is one of the most important things to millennials when they’re deciding on a home to purchase, and these semi-suburbs can give them that closeness they desire.

Semi-Suburbs Are Attractive Due to Lower Housing Costs

Many millennials simply can’t afford the high costs associated with living right in a city’s downtown area, which in turn makes the semi-suburbs more appealing. If they can have urban amenities without breaking the bank they’re happy.

Because of the lower cost, buyers also get more for their money. They might be able to afford more space, a nicer, more modern home and a larger yard. For some buyers, these upsides completely eclipse any potential downsides to living outside of the city center.

How to Help Millennials Find the Best Semi-Suburb for Their Needs

When a millennial buyer seeks out your real estate trend guidance, and they seem interested in the semi-suburbs, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, different suburban neighborhoods are going to have different personalities. For example, in New York there are 500 towns within a commuting distance of Manhattan. And, each one of those communities offers different things to residents. Spend some time learning about the unique characteristics and real estate trends of the semi-suburban neighborhoods in your area so that you can advise these young buyers appropriately.

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