Billionaire Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway recently predicted that the U.S. would bounce back from its residential real estate slump by 2011, citing that the demand for homes would eventually catch up with the supply that accumulated during the bubble.
In addition to this, a growing number of those within the industry anticipate that the nation’s housing recovery will be lead by the home purchase trends of Generation Y – also known as the Millennials or Echo Boomers. These are the 75 million people born to Baby Boomers between 1982 and 1995, according to census data.
“Generation Y, the next big demographic bulge after the baby boomers, will take us out of the economic downturn,” predicted Steve Hovany, president of Strategy Planning Associates in Schaumburg, IL.
“These first-time buyers will lead the recovery. They have the advantage of not having an existing home to sell,” said Hovany. “All the big builders are redesigning for this age group. What’s coming are smaller, more-efficient boxes that cost less.”