The generation gap in real estateIn real estate, there is a growing dichotomy: buyers are getting younger, while real estate agents are growing older, according to articles in the Seattle Post Intelligencer and the Boston Globe.
Using data from the National Association of Realtors, these articles note that while the median age of home buyers was 39 in 2007, the median age among Realtors is 51. And, among first-time home buyers, 49% were between 25 and 34 years old.
This could present a real problem for the real-estate industry, which despite the current overload of real-estate professionals, is actively trying to recruit younger real-estate agents, reports Aubrey Cohen of the Post-Intelligencer. Younger agents will be needed to replace an aging workforce and to create inroads with a uniquely high-tech set of house hunters, the articles say. Youthful home buyers are more independent and rely more on the Internet in the home-buying process than their predecessors did, these articles note.