Generational Marketing in 2025

00:00:10:09 - 00:00:36:03
Mike Collignon: Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I am sharing a holiday that is not today, and I'm glad it's not today because otherwise we would only be together for six minutes and 40s. That's right. Tomorrow is International Pecha Cuccia day. So we dodged a bullet there. All right. Today we're here to talk about generational marketing. And here to tell us all about it is Sara Gutman, co-founder and CEO of Green Builder Media.

00:00:36:04 - 00:00:58:23
Mike Collignon: Sara is a former venture capitalist who graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College and holds an MBA and entrepreneurship and finance from the University of Colorado. She has established a reputation as a visionary, thought leader and passionate advocate for sustainability, and she works closely with a diverse group of stakeholders in the building industry to develop impactful, long term green strategies that are simultaneously sustainable and profitable.

00:00:58:28 - 00:01:21:01
Mike Collignon: Now, it will not take me 400 seconds to tell you about our sponsors. Power shift by NV energy is a program that helps residential and business customers conserve energy and save money on their power bills. Power shift is a one stop resource to find energy efficient products and services. For more information, please visit their website at envy.

00:01:21:03 - 00:01:49:26
Mike Collignon: Shift. Whirlpool Corporation is committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company in constant pursuit of improving life at home in an increasingly digital world. The company is driving purposeful innovation to meet the evolving needs of consumers through its iconic brand portfolio, including names that you know like whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, console, Brass temp, Amana, Gen Air, Indesit and In Sync Reader.

00:01:49:29 - 00:02:08:21
Mike Collignon: Now don't forget that you can submit questions for Sara. Simply use the questions box that is down near the bottom, I believe on zoom, and I'm going to review those questions, and I'm going to pose those to her during the Q&A time that we have set aside after her presentation. All right, Sarah, you are now on the clock.

00:02:08:22 - 00:02:11:27
Mike Collignon: No, I'm just kidding. You are up.

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Sara Gutterman: Mike, thank you so much, as always, for being our fearless moderator. You always need to great job. And also a sincere thank you to Mary Kestner, our production manager. I like to refer to her as the wizard behind the curtain. She makes it all happen. So, Mary. Thank you. I'm feeling particularly grateful right now for Power Shift and Whirlpool as well.

00:02:32:11 - 00:02:53:28
Sara Gutterman: This is our third annual generational marketing marketing study and Power Shift. And whirlpool has been a supporter for all three years. And in fact, they've been one of two of our main supporters for the past 20 years. Because 2025 is green, building media is plenty of anniversary, so we're just incredibly excited about that. So let me just give them a special call out.

00:02:53:28 - 00:03:20:23
Sara Gutterman: In addition to what Mike just said, and the energy has been great to work with, not only are they really working to clean their energy mix that they deliver to customers, they shuttered their last coal plant last year. They've been providing electric busses to Las Vegas, and they do a lot of other things throughout the entire state. Whirlpool is constantly focused on innovation and sustainability.

00:03:20:26 - 00:03:48:07
Sara Gutterman: It's always very fun to them, to work with them, to look at all of the innovation that they release on a on a year by year basis. With that, I'm going to shift now into our generational marketing. So as I said, this is our third annual study. So for those of you who have seen me present on generational marketing, you'll see a little bit of content that you may remember from previous iterations.

00:03:48:08 - 00:04:16:01
Sara Gutterman: And that's really just classifying the generations. So in our generational marketing study, we look at boomers, Gen Xers, millennials and Gen Zs. This year for the first time. We're also introducing Gen Alpha into the mix because really, boomers, Xers, millennials and Zs are the four generations that are impacting the housing market today. But alphas aren't too far away.

00:04:16:03 - 00:04:46:09
Sara Gutterman: So we are just starting to to watch their trends and their behavioral patterns. And understanding generational marketing is really important because each generation is defined by the, say, nuances of their childhood and how they were brought up and various different incidents in in their lifetimes, in the early careers, later in their careers that shape their views, not just on life in general, but particularly on housing.

00:04:46:09 - 00:05:16:15
Sara Gutterman: And as we are seeing this tremendous transition as boomers retire and lead leadership positions and Xers and then also entrepreneurial and enterprising Millennials and Gen Z fill those leadership positions, we're seeing a lot of transition again, both in general in our society, but also specifically in the housing market. That's based on the preferences and pensions of these younger generations, which we'll get into.

00:05:16:16 - 00:05:38:29
Sara Gutterman: It's really transforming the way that we design and build and think about the way we operate our homes and our communities. So again, I want to just start by talking a bit about each of the five generations. Now, again, it used to be four. Now it's five this year. So again, if you've heard if you've heard me present on generational marketing, bear with me again.

00:05:38:29 - 00:06:01:27
Sara Gutterman: Some of these slides are a little redundant from what you've seen in the past, but then I'll get into a lot of new information. So boomers, there's a little over 70 million of them in the US. They own about 53% of all US household wealth, and about 42% of all billionaire wealth. Their average household net worth is at about 1.2 million.

00:06:01:28 - 00:06:34:27
Sara Gutterman: And historically, over the last decade or two, they have comprised the majority of senior leadership positions in the government and large businesses in the judicial branch as well. Now, boomers grew up in a relatively stable environment, and it's very much a work to get ahead mentality. And while they are working longer than generations previous to them, they're kind of redefining retirement and just second or third careers.

00:06:34:27 - 00:06:59:15
Sara Gutterman: They may be on their second or third families. They very active, they're wealthy, they're educated, and they're tackling the issues of aging with gusto. They are engaged in their lives. They're not checking out, you know, to go retire in golf communities in Florida, like my grandparents, the generation older than boomers did, they were my grandpa was a builder.

00:06:59:15 - 00:07:19:03
Sara Gutterman: He was a HUD builder, actually, he retired at 55. He and my grandma moved down to Florida, and that was that. They played golf and tennis for the rest of their days and they were very happy. But that's really not what boomers are doing. As I said, they're engaging in second or third careers. They are engaging in hobbies.

00:07:19:03 - 00:07:46:07
Sara Gutterman: And so as they are settling into their homes and upgrading their homes or moving to lifestyle communities, they are looking for amenities that can help them maintain those active lifestyles. So whether those are sports activities or walking trails, certainly looking for access to health care, but they're also looking for these like minded communities that are now being called halfback communities.

00:07:46:07 - 00:08:19:10
Sara Gutterman: So they're not in urban settings and they're not fully remote, you know, kind of tertiary markets either. But they're they may be not fully rural, but fairly suburban, but they're also active areas, and they like their liking more and more the ability to access everything that they need retail, in some cases, some co-working spaces within that 15 minute drive, which is just generally the trend across all of the various generations at this point.

00:08:19:12 - 00:08:46:03
Sara Gutterman: Now, about 85% of people over 60 own their homes. And boomers, more than any other generation, really tie their homes into their identity. And this is really always been the case. It's why this generation had looked for McMansions with very elegant spaces that, as we know now, were fairly difficult to clean and maintain. And, you know, we're only used maybe once or twice a year for holidays.

00:08:46:03 - 00:09:17:24
Sara Gutterman: But again, they really have historically tied their homes into their identities, certainly since Covid. Now more than ever, vast majority of boomers are looking to age in place, and a large portion of the individuals wanting to age in place are looking to remodel their homes about 65% in tandem remodel their homes, and about 95% a little under 95% want to install energy efficiency upgrades.

00:09:17:24 - 00:09:43:16
Sara Gutterman: So in addition to the usual 55 plus upgrades like wider doors and hallways and pants lighting, bigger windows, first floor bedrooms, we're also seeing a lot of smart home technology and energy efficiency upgrades within this boomer class. And in fact, what we're seeing here in this graphic. And I know it's kind of hard to read, but what it's showing is a holistic view of what we are calling assisted living technology.

00:09:43:17 - 00:10:20:13
Sara Gutterman: We really see this as one of the largest opportunities within the boomer upgrade segment. So assisted living technologies are everything from sensors and monitors to demand side energy management to smart thermostats and lighting that will help boomers age in place and live will say with dignity, as they do age in place. So it could be anything, again, from optimizing energy use or leak detection and water management, which can save money, reduce maintenance, but then also in some cases it's the remote check in capability.

00:10:20:13 - 00:10:50:23
Sara Gutterman: So if I put a monitor on my parents refrigerator and they're not opening and closing their refrigerator, I get a notice so that I know to check in on them and make sure that they're doing okay. But certainly, again, to reiterate, as boomers retire, they're not necessarily moving out of their homes or downsizing. Many of them are staying in their homes, but they are looking to upgrade comfort, accessibility, durability, intelligence and cost savings.

00:10:50:29 - 00:11:22:09
Sara Gutterman: So we do see, again, there's energy efficiency and assisted living technology upgrades as a large opportunity here and looking at reducing costs in general, whether that's for energy or for maintenance, that's incredibly important with this cohort. Now moving on to Xers, a little bit of a smaller generation, there's about a little under 60, let's say 66 million in the US.

00:11:22:11 - 00:11:57:26
Sara Gutterman: Xers are at the peak of their careers. And so they're spending power right now is about 2.4 trillion. It's very educated cohort audience segment. And Xers are really leading in cultural power, which means positions in the media and small businesses and local elected positions. Now, extras also grew up in a relatively stable economy. However, Xers were hit the hardest in the 2008 recession and they lost over 70% of all general home equity wealth.

00:11:57:26 - 00:12:24:04
Sara Gutterman: And so that's made Xers into a very conservative home buying cohort. So while they are in a good position relative to home prices versus their incomes and their salaries, because, again, they are at the peak of their careers, they are conservative buyers. When they look at upgrades, they look at an Roy. So they like energy efficiency and electrification upgrades.

00:12:24:06 - 00:12:47:20
Sara Gutterman: If they can justify long term cost savings. And that's kind of how they look at sustainability in general, more so I would say, than any other generation. Now, this generation is also considered to be the sandwich generation, meaning they may be taking care of parents as well as kids, in some cases grandkids. So they are looking for flexible spaces in their home for different phases of life.

00:12:47:20 - 00:13:13:21
Sara Gutterman: Or they can gather their family, they can entertain, they can have both indoor and outdoor spaces. And then keep in mind, this is the generation of the X games. And so health and wellness and fitness has always been important to this generation. So they are looking for home gyms. And then of course because they can work from home, given where they are in their leadership positions, they are also looking for home offices.

00:13:13:24 - 00:13:56:13
Sara Gutterman: So again a little bit more of a conservative buyer audience with respect to Xers. And they like practical homes that offer good value for their investment. About 20% of Xers live in multi-generational households at this point. And so again, that that kind of corroborates why they want these flexible, family friendly areas. And as I mentioned, you know, they definitely have eco consciousness who will say, but their budget consciousness also makes them inclined to measure sustainability with with that return on investment.

00:13:56:15 - 00:14:21:16
Sara Gutterman: Moving on to millennials, a bit of a larger audience segment here, about 70, a little over 72 million in the US. And millennials now comprise about three quarters of the US workforce, and about 52% of them are remote workers. And their spending power is about 2.5 trillion. So a little bit over x, the 2.4 trillion spending power of Xers.

00:14:21:16 - 00:14:53:23
Sara Gutterman: But again there's you know, more millennials. So per capita actually extras are a little bit higher in terms of spending power. With that said, millennials grew up in a less economic, less stable economic environment. So they graduated during the Great Recession. They had the impacts of the pandemic on their social and educational aspects of their lifestyles, and they are the first generation to make less than their parents and their grandparents.

00:14:53:28 - 00:15:25:05
Sara Gutterman: This is also very much a values based and mission driven generation, and they value deep relationships and social purpose, and 81% believe that it's more important to be happy than successful in their careers. And I think that's a pretty telling statistic. That's actually a new cognition smart data statistic, which I thought was pretty interesting. We thought we knew that, but that really spells it out and clarifies the values of the millennial generation.

00:15:25:08 - 00:15:59:19
Sara Gutterman: We know that millennials waited longer to purchase homes, and so they have lower home equity levels than Xers and Boomers did at their age. And they're really looking at this blend of affordability, sustainability, connectivity, resilience, etc.. And I think that that the chasm between millennials sitting on the sidelines and millennials kind of catching up to where Xers and Boomers were in terms of home ownership and home equity is closing.

00:15:59:22 - 00:16:20:02
Sara Gutterman: It used to be a much bigger chasm, as millennials sat on the sidelines because they were saddled by student debt and credit card debt and loans, and they were early on in their careers, and housing prices were exceeding wage growth. So it was hard for them to afford down payments and to get into the market now as they've evolved in their careers.

00:16:20:02 - 00:16:54:11
Sara Gutterman: As I said, that chasm between them sitting on the sidelines and then really jumping in wholeheartedly into the housing market is closing. With that said, as millennials have gotten into the housing market, there's a couple dynamics that have changed. This is really the first generation that didn't just look at lowest front cost or price per square foot, and I have a slide in a little while that shows the perception of upfront costs versus total value of homeownership across all four generations.

00:16:54:11 - 00:17:27:11
Sara Gutterman: And there's some pretty interesting insights there. But I would submit that millennials were the first generation that started changing the housing valuation, which is great because first cost is not full cost. And this is the generation that started looking at that total value of homeownership and started understanding that investing in energy efficiency and electrification and resiliency upgrades have a direct ROI, and also investing in healthy home and smart home upgrades.

00:17:27:14 - 00:17:59:08
Sara Gutterman: Even solar plus storage not only have that ROI, but can help make their families more comfortable and just make a better home experience. Millennials, more than any other generation, also are really focused on resiliency and independence, so that could be resilient materials, siding, roofing, landscaping, etc. and it could be solar plus storage and even food production, onsite food production to enhance their level of independence.

00:17:59:12 - 00:18:31:27
Sara Gutterman: In the case of a grid outage or a natural disaster. Now millennials again, their housing choices reflect their values. So 83% consider energy efficient homes essential. 86% are willing to pay for smart technology, or at least they say they are. And they are looking at smaller, more compact homes that are easier to heat and clean and cool and maintain, and multifamily units just because of affordability.

00:18:32:00 - 00:19:02:02
Sara Gutterman: And they too are looking for that 15 minute city, meaning that they can walk or use public transportation or access all of the things that they need, whether that's amenities like community spaces and community gardens or co-working spaces or retail groceries, etc.. Now Gen Z is a little bit smaller than millennials. So let's say, you know, almost 69 million in the US.

00:19:02:06 - 00:19:32:16
Sara Gutterman: And right now they're spending power is fairly small relative to where it will be. So it's only about 360 billion compared to the 2.4 trillion that millennials have this generation, because their childhood was marked by two crippling recessions and the pandemic, this generation is considered to be fairly debt adverse and budget conscious. They are considered to be discerning and sensible, and that is impacting their housing decisions.

00:19:32:18 - 00:20:00:29
Sara Gutterman: They are very much looking at homes that work hard for them. I'll get more into that in a minute. This is also an incredibly diverse generation, and while equality or social elements and even the environmental elements are important to millennials, they are just baseline essentials for Gen Z. And I think that's really because as Gen Z have, you know, they are digital natives.

00:20:00:29 - 00:20:33:10
Sara Gutterman: They've always had technology at their fingertips. They can see news what's happening, you know, moment by moment as it's unfolding. They can connect to these faraway cultures and they always have their finger on the pulse of anything that's happening. And as a result, not only are they becoming more open minded and just actively engaged, but they are also really they have tools to advocate for things that they believe in.

00:20:33:10 - 00:20:58:04
Sara Gutterman: And while Gen Z were only 17% of eligible voters in 2024, they'll be 35% of eligible voters by 2036, and nearly 40% of Gen Z had entered the workforce. So, you know, certainly Gen Z are really starting to impact the workplace as well as the housing sector. Now, 80% of Gen Zers want to own their own home, right?

00:20:58:04 - 00:21:25:20
Sara Gutterman: The American dream is alive and well within this audience segment, and they want to purchase homes quickly within the next five years. With that said, there's a big chasm between what they think homes should cost, which is, you know, in the low to mid 200,000 versus what they actually cost right now, which is in the low to mid 400,000, which is just a national median average in the fourth quarter of 24.

00:21:25:22 - 00:22:12:09
Sara Gutterman: Clearly, you know, they too are struggling with credit card debt and student loans. And so down payments are hard to come by. And they're very on early on in their careers. And so, you know, their wage growth is not matching housing price increases. So there are obstacles. Even though there is a desire for home ownership, there are these obstacles that are in Gen Z ways, however, as they evolve in their careers and then also as they get very creative, they are pooling money together with friends and family and to, you know, kind of come up with down payments and cohabitation scenarios that are new and really would seem, frankly, a little strange to extras and

00:22:12:09 - 00:22:39:13
Sara Gutterman: boomers. When those generations were at that same age, they just weren't as they weren't creative thinkers like Gen Zers. So, you know, sustainability is paramount to Gen Z. 80% believe that they themselves must make a difference in the world. 80% want their homes to be net zero energy, water and carbon. 100% of Gen Z's that we have surveyed tell us that they want to live in an all electric home.

00:22:39:13 - 00:23:12:08
Sara Gutterman: They get the environmental impact as well as the health impacts of electrification. And so electric electrification to them is just a no brainer. They do understand the benefits of prefab homes as well, and how that reduce waste and in an ideal world can reduce delivery time and, you know, can ensure higher quality. Now introducing Gen Alpha. So Gen alphas were born in 2010 up till this year, 2025.

00:23:12:09 - 00:23:44:12
Sara Gutterman: Right now there's about 51 million in the US. I read a stat that said there's about 2.5 million alphas that are born each month, which if you think about that and add the numbers up, alphas are projected to be the largest generation globally ever in history. So that's a little bit daunting just to think of. And this generation will be even more diverse than Gen Z.

00:23:44:14 - 00:24:10:15
Sara Gutterman: Who who is you know, they are the most Gen Z are the most diverse generation to date. But alphas will eclipse that. And it's the first generation were less than half of the population. Consider them selves to be white. There'll be 11% of the workforce by 2030, and they will begin buying homes by that time as well. So we're just a few short years away until the first alphas, the early alphas will start.

00:24:10:15 - 00:24:48:02
Sara Gutterman: My moms now, their childhood again, marked by the pandemic transformation of AI and robotics and virtual reality. A lot of social and economic volatility, political division, gun violence and globalization will say in general, although certainly there's some retreat from that in the current federal government that's causing, some will say, confusion around the globe with amongst US allies. And so we'll see what happens there and what the fallout is of that.

00:24:48:09 - 00:25:19:20
Sara Gutterman: But this absolutely way more so than even millennials and Gen Z is a generation of AI, VR, social media, YouTube. That's where, you know, that's how they really interact with the world. So Gen alphas, again, even more so than Gen Z who took social equality to the next level than millennials. So it's just accentuating with each generation. Alpha is really value helping people, including people, treating people thoroughly, protecting the environment.

00:25:19:20 - 00:25:51:29
Sara Gutterman: And they at this very young and nascent age, they are standing up and they are suing state governments like in Montana and Hawaii. They are very active and vocal in terms of social and environmental protections. It is projected to be a very educated generation. And here's a stat that I really like 75% of gen alphas, or expected to work in jobs in industries that actually don't exist today.

00:25:52:05 - 00:26:17:09
Sara Gutterman: So in areas like AI and blockchain and machine learning. So that really gives a view into the transformation of culture and society and technology. But the fact that alphas are going to leapfrog really anything that we know today in terms of not just their expertise, but, you know, their mission, their value, their purpose in the world, and then how they execute that in their careers.

00:26:17:11 - 00:27:03:18
Sara Gutterman: And then they are expected to have a 16% longer life than alumnus. Now, alphas are expected, again, as I said, to really inherent and amplify sustainable sustainability values that millennials and Gen Zs have that I think really started with Boomers and Xers, but they're just taking it to a whole new level. They will absolutely leverage climate tech, AI, VR and the other technologies to create a much more streamlined approach to environmental protection, to optimization of resources, to healthier materials, to biophilic design and energy independence.

00:27:03:20 - 00:27:44:11
Sara Gutterman: And so when we look at the homes that that the gen alphas will demand, again, starting by, you know, 2029, 2030, there's going to be a big demand for AI powered home assistants and automated climate control for thermostats. And then that will go into lighting and security as well voice and gesture controlled home functions, whether that's biometric locks or being able to use your your voice to open doors and adjust lights, which we can do to a certain extent right now with with Siri and Google and Sonos and some of these other apps.

00:27:44:13 - 00:28:05:13
Sara Gutterman: But I think what will really see and this is, you know, think about this as a literally a generational difference. When boomers bought their first homes, there was no intelligence in homes. But, you know, or if there was, maybe it was a very expensive integrated audio visual system, you know, with behind the wall speakers. That was a big deal.

00:28:05:15 - 00:28:32:03
Sara Gutterman: Super expensive. Same thing with XOS. Very little automation. If there was, it was in the audio visual and entertainment segment. By the time millennials bought their first home, there was absolutely smart home technology, but it was fairly dumb. We'll say it wasn't intelligent in that it was, you know, you had to have multiple apps on your phone. Maybe they, you know, 1 or 2 sync together.

00:28:32:06 - 00:29:02:14
Sara Gutterman: By the time these are buying now, their homes, smart home technology has actually become intelligent. So not only can it all sync together through seamless integration on advanced privacy and security protocols, but it also can do things like demand side energy management where it can optimize energy use, interface with the grid, or give alerts for leak detection and water management or some predictive maintenance.

00:29:02:17 - 00:29:31:21
Sara Gutterman: We're starting to see a little bit more and more some of that where if a water heater has a problem, the owner will get a text to fix it. When Gen Alpha start buying their first homes, we're going to see a big leap in the intelligence of the smart home systems again, so that, you know, there's seamless downloads onto operating platforms, onto things like HVAC and water heaters so that they fix themselves before there's a big malfunction.

00:29:31:27 - 00:30:10:11
Sara Gutterman: Again, augmented reality, virtual reality, you know, for learning and entertainment. And then I think, you know, we're also seeing more and more of a demand which will be, you know, accentuated by alphas and their values for carbon negative homes, meaning not just net zero carbon, but regenerative homes that have, you know, not just independent and self-sustaining energy and water systems, water recycling, but regenerative design, living walls that can clean air, passive house design, etc..

00:30:10:14 - 00:30:50:17
Sara Gutterman: So a lot of technology advancement. But that also then translates into we'll call climate tech products and materials. So that's not just smart home technology, but it might be, you know, concrete that integrates. Now there's a company called Optical Assets using recycled glass to put into a cement mix to create a more structurally sound concrete that ends up being a better sequestration platform for carbon on an ongoing basis, certainly more durable materials.

00:30:50:20 - 00:31:20:17
Sara Gutterman: I know that we've seen a desire for flexible spaces by Gen Z and millennials and certainly Xers, but I think we'll see more transformable spaces by the time alphas get into homeownership, where a room can not just be flexible, but it will have furniture and movable walls so that it's a classroom by day and a bedroom bindings, and then hyper connected and autonomous spaces with gamification elements.

00:31:20:17 - 00:31:54:27
Sara Gutterman: Because these younger kids they are growing up with, with gaming as an essential part of their lifestyle. And so everything from household chores, doing dishes to homework, we can expect to become gamified. And then the approach to transportation as well. I think, you know, Boomers and Xers are used to 2 to 6 car garages. I would say millennials and Zs, maybe, you know, they're reducing their car ownership for a household to one car.

00:31:55:01 - 00:32:22:08
Sara Gutterman: In some cases, no cars, if they live in a walkable market, whether it's in urban or a suburban area. Whereas I think with alphas, not only will they be looking at the sharing economy with respect to sharing vehicles, but also things like self-driving electric transport pods. So clearly these younger generations are shifting expectations for housing. We've already seen it with Millennials and Gen Z.

00:32:22:08 - 00:32:55:11
Sara Gutterman: We'll continue to see it with gen alphas. And so and that's important because millennials and Gen Z have seized the top influencer position. They're in the housing market. They're spending more money on buying and remodeling poems in older generations. They have different expectations. They understand and want net zero, all electric, healthy, connected, resilience, solar storage, powered homes. And you know, they are looking now at having a little bit more elbow room, having some more space as they start.

00:32:55:12 - 00:33:18:06
Sara Gutterman: Young families. This happened. This started happening even before the pandemic, certainly during the pandemic and has continued after the pandemic, where they are moving into secondary and tertiary markets, partly because of because of affordability. They can afford homes in those areas, but also so that again, they can they can start families and have some some more room to move.

00:33:18:08 - 00:33:42:08
Sara Gutterman: We say that millennials and Gen Z have seized the top influencer position. This is a chart by core logic that shows home purchase applications by year by generation. You can see the blue line or millennials that's staying in the let's say low to mid 50s. And we'll continue to stay there for years to come. The red line is Gen Xers.

00:33:42:10 - 00:34:05:02
Sara Gutterman: The yellow line is boomers. Both of those lines are going down because those two generations are largely in their forever homes, and they're not moving as much. It's the orange line that you need to be paying attention to. That's Gen Z. It's just starting to hit the scene. But that number is going to rocket ship, you know, and grow like a hockey stick just in the next handful of years.

00:34:05:03 - 00:34:23:25
Sara Gutterman: And so between millennials and Gen Zs, they will comprise the majority of home buyers. Now there is another phenomenon that we're watching. And this is a chart from the National Association of Realtors, by the way, every other chart that you're going to see in here, beyond the two that I just showed you, is from Green Builder Media's Cognition Smart Data.

00:34:23:25 - 00:35:04:17
Sara Gutterman: That's our market intelligence and data services division. And that's where pretty much all of this intelligence comes from. But this chart from Na shows that the age of the first time home buyer. The median age is increasing. So 1991, the median age was 28 years old, whereas in 2024. The median age was 38 years old. And I think that this is partly you know, some people would say, oh, it's because millennials waited longer to get into the housing market because of the dynamics I mentioned earlier, like student loans and credit card debt and being early in their careers.

00:35:04:17 - 00:35:35:03
Sara Gutterman: But at the same time, you see, back in 1991, you know, that's when Ben Z's were buying homes. And so this is not necessarily a generational thing, just millennials and Gen Z and younger generations. It started even before that. And I think that it's partly because younger generations are just delaying life events in general. Like they may be attending school longer and going to graduate programs and marrying later, starting families later, therefore buying homes later.

00:35:35:03 - 00:36:02:11
Sara Gutterman: But it's an interesting phenomenon. And it's not just first time homebuyers. It's also repeat or move up home buyers. So in 1991, the median age of the move up home buyer was 42. And in 2024. The median age is 61 years old. So you can see that people are actually staying in their homes for longer and buying homes later.

00:36:02:11 - 00:36:28:24
Sara Gutterman: So as we track these generations, it's also important to keep in mind now when going back to cognition data in the next several slides, we'll all be cognition. It's probably no surprise that boomers, extras, millennials, the majority of them own their own home. And again, probably not a surprise that more Gen Z's rent a condo, townhouse or an apartment than own a single family home.

00:36:28:24 - 00:36:50:10
Sara Gutterman: But those Gen Z home ownership numbers are absolutely increasing year by year. Now. I referenced this slide a little bit earlier. This is just hot off the press. Brand new data, and this is the first time we've been asking this question to our consumer audience now for over a decade. And we asked, what are they more focused on when purchasing a home.

00:36:50:10 - 00:37:19:13
Sara Gutterman: And it always used to be upfront price and then cost per square foot. This is the first year in more than a decade that all four generations noted, that long term value and ongoing operating costs were more important to them when buying a home than upfront price and cost per square foot. Now I want to do a few comparisons by generation, and let's start with just looking at Millennials and Gen Zs in general.

00:37:19:13 - 00:37:45:02
Sara Gutterman: So a lot of people ask me, well, what do they want in homes? And I like to say they want the the sustainability unicorn. They want compact homes that are easy to clean and maintain. And they, you know, that are net zero energy, healthy, resilient solar plus storage. They have sanctuary spaces so they can get away from their home offices or even, you know, the chaos of everyday life.

00:37:45:10 - 00:38:13:03
Sara Gutterman: They want that connection with nature. They're working from home, so they want ergonomic offices, but they also want homes that really reflect their values. Remember I mentioned that boomers tie their identity into their homes? Well, millennials and Gen Z tie sustainability into their homes. And you can see almost all of the millennials and Gen Zs say that sustainability is extremely important when making purchase decisions for their home.

00:38:13:03 - 00:38:40:28
Sara Gutterman: And otherwise, 85% say they've been greatly affected by climate change, 64% feel guilty about their negative impact on the environment, 81% believe it. Companies have to be part of the climate solution. 82% say that the more socially and environmentally responsible a company is, the more loyal they will be. Is both an employee and a customer, and 77% will spend more for sustainable products.

00:38:41:01 - 00:39:31:22
Sara Gutterman: Now, when we translate some of these housing preferences from and Gen Z over to alphas, and we kind of compare those generations. You know, as I mentioned earlier, we're shifting from smart home technology to AI powered automation and predictive technology. That will be a demand for alpha. So just kind of keep that in mind and anticipate that. I think another shift between millennials and Gen Z and alphas, when they start getting into the market, will be shifting from this interest in and growing demand for net zero or low carbon homes to those regenerative homes that actually can sequester carbon, produce energy and provide some kind of positive environmental impact as opposed to a negative environmental

00:39:31:22 - 00:40:03:08
Sara Gutterman: impact with biophilic designs and that are very nature integrated. I think I already talked about the spaces and transportation. When we look at some more generational comparisons, boomers and Xers, I would say, are a little bit more conservative than Millennials and Gen Zs in terms of technology adoption. Certainly the older generations adopted technology later in life. They are they value stability and loyalty and hierarchy in their careers.

00:40:03:08 - 00:40:26:10
Sara Gutterman: They'll stay at jobs for decades, and only 30% report that they would leave a job that doesn't align with their values. Whereas younger generations prioritize this work life balance and flexibility. You know, they kind of conceived of the gig where they can work, you know, multiple different gigs, literally gigs and, you know, kind of work when they want to work and then play when they want to play.

00:40:26:12 - 00:40:53:23
Sara Gutterman: And I think that, again, all of this, you know, whether it's Boomers and Gen Z being able to purchase their first homes at lower prices or lower interest rates and generate more home equity than millennials, there was a different emphasis, I would say, on on savings and pensions and retirement funds and traditional investing, whereas, you know, again, millennials and Gen Z are waiting longer to buy those homes.

00:40:53:27 - 00:41:18:20
Sara Gutterman: Starting to build home equity a little bit later in life have dealt with various crises, economic, social health crises in their in their lives and therefore, you know, just have a little bit of a different sense of values and priorities. Certainly, I would say Boomers and Xers value sustainability, but they want to see that ROI that I mentioned earlier.

00:41:18:20 - 00:41:52:08
Sara Gutterman: Whereas with Millennials and Gen Z, it's just an enhanced value and is translating into this new zeitgeist that they are bringing to the perception of what home really means. So, you know, Boomers and Xers bigger was better. Lowest upfront cost was the key valuation metric. Whereas again, with these younger generations, we've been told certainly during and since the pandemic that our homes are our sanctuaries are the safest place that we could be.

00:41:52:09 - 00:42:29:25
Sara Gutterman: And again, I think those younger generations have shifted that valuation metric. So they are willing to spend more on sustainability upgrades, especially if it will lower their ongoing cost of homeownership and increase value. Excuse me. And I've shown this, this slide before in recent presentations. Homeownership is pretty consistent across the board at about 80%. But the younger the generation, the more they're considering moving because of climate change, the more they're concerned about climate change impacting the value of their home.

00:42:29:25 - 00:43:04:25
Sara Gutterman: And the more they're they're impacted with respect to their ability to actually access insurance. That's partly because of cost. Boomers and Xers or maybe grandfathered into their policies or have owned their homes and their and had insurance policies for longer, whereas younger generations, again, we're seeing the crisis in the insurance industry where they're having a hard time getting insurance in some markets, partly because these younger generations are moving into secondary and tertiary markets that may be at higher risk of climate change.

00:43:04:25 - 00:43:44:13
Sara Gutterman: So, for example, along the WUI or the wildland urban interface in places like Boise, you know, that are growing very quickly where there are high risks of, in that case, wildfire. But in other tertiary markets, it might be super storms or flooding. And then of course, the cost of insurance is a big issue as well. So we're starting to see more and more incorporation by all generations, but particularly millennials and Gen Zs of climate responsive design, as they're looking at homes, especially if they're able to have an impact on the design of their home.

00:43:44:16 - 00:44:07:02
Sara Gutterman: We see younger generations believe that homes can be grid independent, namely solar plus storage in shorter amounts of time. So Gen Zs think that within two years or even up to five years, you know, more so 6 to 10 years. But I think if you add up the responses between within two years or 2 to 5 years, that's the largest portion of Gen Zs.

00:44:07:04 - 00:44:36:06
Sara Gutterman: And the older the generation, the longer they think it's going to take to make homes independent, whether that's completely off grid or really more realistically, just being able to withstand nature's fury and stay powered. In the case of a grid outage. Here's another slide that corroborates what I like to say when younger generations in particular are willing to invest in sustainability upgrades including energy efficiency, electrification, healthy at home, and so on.

00:44:36:12 - 00:45:01:14
Sara Gutterman: If it'll lower their ongoing cost of home ownership over time, one thing I will say is this chart compared to last year's chart question. Same question. Boomers and Xers, their willingness to invest in these sustainability upgrades has actually gone down just slightly. And millennials and Gen Zs have stayed about the same. And that's really because of economic conditions.

00:45:01:14 - 00:45:26:16
Sara Gutterman: And I'll talk a little bit more about that in a second. Healthy home upgrades that are important across the board to all generations include outdoor living spaces, air filtration and purification systems, and better ventilation, a little bit antimicrobial surfaces as well. For the younger generations, we can see the younger generation, the more critical they think smart home technology is.

00:45:26:19 - 00:45:53:09
Sara Gutterman: You know, Boomers and Xers, they're boomers are about half and a half. Xers are a little bit different. But you can see 75% of Gen Z think that smart home technology is critical today. And when we ask the various generations, Heather, using smart home technology, it's largely energy efficiency and then entertainment. Indoor air quality is close and security as well.

00:45:53:12 - 00:46:21:02
Sara Gutterman: You can see that when we ask if the generations are worried that smart home technology will be outdated in a few years, nobody's really concerned. I would say boomers are perhaps the most concerned in terms of the very concerned answer. But you know, the younger generation, the more they are mildly concerned. So it's certainly on the minds of these younger generations that are very used to these quick technology turnovers.

00:46:21:05 - 00:46:50:10
Sara Gutterman: The younger the generation, the more they believe that water is semi-urban, but the older the generation, the more they think that water management in their market is critical. So you can see again, it's it's it's certainly on the minds. Nobody is really as a prevalent response that it's not. But I think that kind of telling a critical and semi-urban, there's certainly growing awareness about water issues.

00:46:50:12 - 00:47:19:20
Sara Gutterman: When we ask which water solutions they would utilize, it's probably, not surprisingly, largely low flow faucets, fixtures, toilets, etc., leak detection systems, smart irrigation and then some rainwater and greywater systems as well. There is a growing awareness, especially within Millennials and Gen Z, about offsite construction to elevate sustainability. And then this chart is actually from the Home Improvement Research Institute.

00:47:19:21 - 00:47:55:24
Sara Gutterman: We see that younger homeowners are more willing to complete discretionary remodeling and home improvement projects over the past, let's say, 3 to 5 months. And it's actually younger, higher income male nonwhite homeowners that are more likely to to feel that it's a good time to engage in these projects. With that said, millennials and Gen Z report more challenges than older homeowners with those retrofits and improvements, and it's largely because of the costs of the project.

00:47:56:01 - 00:48:21:16
Sara Gutterman: And we can see here that that's because, you know, 60 to 75% of the generations, let's say, 55% believe that the economy is actually getting worse. This is a much worse outlook than when we asked this question at the same time last year. Interestingly, millennials and Gen Zs thought last year at this time that the economy was actually getting better, not worse.

00:48:21:18 - 00:48:55:09
Sara Gutterman: And we can see that every generation is reporting that they're having troubles just managing daily expenses. And then, you know, boomers, Xers and millennials are also reporting they're having problems with things like home renovations and travel expenses, whereas Gen Z are are having a hard time managing things like college loans, utility bills. ET cetera. When it comes to views on homeownership, probably not surprisingly, Boomers and Xers own a home, and they're happy with it as it is.

00:48:55:10 - 00:49:28:05
Sara Gutterman: For the most part, millennials and Gen Zs report that they would buy one today if they could afford something in a neighborhood that they liked, or that they have stopped searching because there's there's nothing that they can afford. So, you know, not a great housing perspective in terms of younger generations with respect to affordability. With that said, given current economic conditions, millennials excuse me, boomers and Xers say that they're more inclined to remodel their existing home rather than move.

00:49:28:08 - 00:50:00:03
Sara Gutterman: Millennials and Gen Zs say that they're more inclined to make their home energy efficient than anything else in today's market, or move to a less expensive neighborhood. And I put this one in here just for any product manufacturers or builders that are on this webinar, you know, kind of the older generations still get information about new products and materials from news and articles, whereas by far millennials and Gen Z or looking to social media and also to their peers for information.

00:50:00:03 - 00:50:42:22
Sara Gutterman: So just a couple more minutes and I'm going to wrap up with the housing market forecast. And what I will say is that it was projected a couple of months ago that the housing market was expected to stay strong in 2025 and and for the next several years, with mortgage rates stabilizing, around 6%, say, 6 to 6.5%. With that said, we are seeing that terrace deportations, the possibility of regulatory reform and policy and certainty in general is kind of lowing the expectations that had been in place away in terms of there's just a lot of uncertainty right now.

00:50:42:23 - 00:51:12:19
Sara Gutterman: We're not sure exactly what's going to happen with terrorists. Are they going to be implemented, are they going to be implemented and they can back away? Are they going to be implemented at high rates and reduced to low rates? What's going to happen to deportations? Because certainly there there are migrant workers that that are in the construction industry that make up a good portion of contractors and that will impact the housing market and, you know, the jobs market.

00:51:12:21 - 00:51:37:01
Sara Gutterman: Speaking of the jobs market in general, the jobs market was predicted, predicted to be strong this year, but with recent layoffs, certainly at the government and federal level, there's a lot of ambiguity as well. There's now, you know, tens and possibly even up to hundreds of thousands of people now looking for jobs in the private sector that weren't looking for jobs in the private sector previously.

00:51:37:01 - 00:52:05:17
Sara Gutterman: So how is that going to impact the jobs, which obviously impacts the housing market? Because if people can't have jobs, then they can't buy new homes, they can't remodel. With that said, we do see some bright spots and some tailwinds for the housing market. The same dynamics exists. There's still a backlog of, you know, potential home buyers. There's still a lot of millennials and Gen Zs sitting on the sidelines wanting to purchase homes.

00:52:05:23 - 00:52:35:14
Sara Gutterman: And so I think that if we can continue to design and build the types of homes that they want, right, smaller scale homes that are sustainable and more cost effective, not just upfront costs, but full cost, we are going to start seeing more and more of those buyers get into the housing market. We are also seeing improvements in existing home inventory levels, which, somewhat counterintuitively, actually positively impacts new home sales because it just spurs more housing activity.

00:52:35:16 - 00:53:00:06
Sara Gutterman: And again, because of the tremendous pent up demand for homes in general, new and existing, it's good to have more existing home inventory on the market. And that's just because whether those mortgage rates come down to that anticipated 6 to 6.5%, or even if they stay a little higher, frankly, it's just people are just getting used to those rates and are just saying, well, you know what?

00:53:00:07 - 00:53:29:20
Sara Gutterman: They're not coming down. I'm getting an existing or a new home anyway. And so, you know, I think there is a little bit of enhanced buyer confidence and market participation. So we do still expect an increase in just general existing and new home sales and increasing values. And unfortunately for buyers, continued appreciation in home prices. We don't anticipate any kind of fall or a cliff in terms of those home prices.

00:53:29:20 - 00:54:01:26
Sara Gutterman: And that's partly because the land inventory is very strong where we do absolutely see opportunities our energy efficiency, healthy home resiliency, electrification, work from home spaces, aging in place and then disaster repair and mitigation, enhancing resiliency. And then finally, just to finish up, you know, we are seeing that the conversation in the building sector is decidedly shifting from net zero energy to net zero carbon.

00:54:01:26 - 00:54:46:19
Sara Gutterman: And there's really three elements to reaching a net zero carbon built environment that first starts with addressing performance. So climate responsive design, building science and green building best practices. The next part of that is the meticulous specification of low carbon products from low carbon companies. And we're seeing a huge increase in adoption and demand for low carbon products, for example, those with environmental product declarations or and so you can see the chart on the top, on the left shows that about 85% of the builders that we survey are already currently specifying products of EPD, and about 65% say that they're seeing demand from their home buyers for products with.

00:54:46:21 - 00:55:23:04
Sara Gutterman: And then another 20% say that while their home buyers might not be specifically familiar with it, they are asking for similar product certifications to verify sustainability claims. And then, beyond addressing performance and specifying low carbon products from low carbon companies, carbon offsets absolutely have to take us that last mile to get to net zero carbon, because the truth is, there just aren't enough, you know, net zero products or building transportation construction practices to get us fully net zero carbon at this time.

00:55:23:07 - 00:55:51:19
Sara Gutterman: So we've got to purchase carbon offsets. Green Builder Media is now selling carbon offsets. That's a whole other conversation and webinar. If you're interested, I'll show my email link in a second and you can shoot me some questions. But we are absolutely seeing shifts and changes in codes and regulations at a local, municipal and state level. Clearly not at a federal level, but that are pushing us towards net zero carbon built environment.

00:55:51:19 - 00:56:22:25
Sara Gutterman: We're starting to see codes and regulations and climate laws in California and Massachusetts, and soon to come in New York and New Jersey and Colorado and other places, especially cities and states from coast to coast, that have aggressive 2030 decarbonization goals that are starting to either require scope one, two and three emissions from companies and also from buildings, or they're starting to require builders and developers to submit submit net zero carbon plans when they go in to get a permit.

00:56:22:25 - 00:56:42:19
Sara Gutterman: So we're keeping a keen eye on that. So I'm going to wrap up. I have a hard stop. So we're not going to have time for questions. I apologize for that. But you see my email here. Please feel free to shoot me an email if you do have any questions. I really appreciate your time today, Mike and Mary.

00:56:42:20 - 00:57:05:06
Sara Gutterman: Thank you as always for moderating and producing these webinars. And then again, a warm thank you to Powershift by Andy Energy and to whirlpool for your ongoing support. We couldn't do the work that we do without generous sponsors and partners like them. So Mike last 30s is yours.

00:57:05:08 - 00:57:29:03
Mike Collignon: Hi. Thank you very much, Sarah. And yes, thank you to everyone for attending. Our next webinar is on March the 6th. It's going to be at 3 p.m. eastern time. That's going to be our next housing 2.0 webinar. We're going to be discussing AI and digitization in housing with Joel Abney and Sam Raskin. Until next time, I hope those of you who are going to Design and Construction Week have a productive and healthy show.

00:57:29:05 - 00:57:36:17
Mike Collignon: Maybe Sarah and I will see you out there. And if not, we hope that we'll see you back here in early March. Until then, take everyone so long.