Should you be putting your mortgage marketing dollars into the suburbs? Some might say yes…
The TD Spring Homebuying Survey found that of eight-in-ten millennials who aspire to own their own home, two-thirds were willing to choose the suburbs over the city.
“We’re now seeing millennials looking beyond the city for their housing needs, particularly as they start thinking about their needs for the future, like having more space to raise a family,” Pat Giles, Vice President, Real Estate Secured Lending at TD, said in a release.
“As a result, many are choosing the suburbs to either make the move to a new home or upsize from their current one, a shift from just a few years ago when city living was this generation’s preference.”
But after the TD report came out, RBC released its Focus on Canada’s Housing Market April 2019 report saying that millennials are not abandoning the city just yet.
RBC Senior Economist Robert Hogue wrote: “Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal aren’t being drained of people in their prime household-forming life stage.”
He found that those three cities, in particular, are still magnets for young people. For every millennial who leaves each city, Toronto gains seven, and Vancouver and Montreal could gain as many as 12 each, Hogue said.
But Hogue also said that he suspects the rate of homeownership among young people will drop, as more choose to rent.
Where does that leave your mortgage marketing? To answer that, look at your property data.
Housing affordability is a big concern for many demographics, but especially first-time homebuyers. If you are targeting millennials or younger generations, it may be smart to look for properties – in the city or suburbs – that offer a more affordable entry point.
To do that, use automated valuation model (AVM) tools to identify trends in the marketplace. Look for communities that are affordable to live in and push your marketing dollars there.
For instance, using AVM tools from Purview, you can look at:
- Comparable sales
- Estimated value
- Property details – including legal size, description, and homeowners
- Ownership and sales history
- And more.
In addition, if you do decide to market to millennials moving to the suburbs, it could be worthwhile to look at housing-type trends.
In the March 2018 Teranet Market Insights Report, Teranet data scientists found that millennials had the highest percentage of the Ontario condo transaction market share by cohort.
In the November 2017 Market Insights Report, Teranet found that in Toronto, millennials were gravitating more towards condos (63% of millennial activity was in the condo sector). But in Ontario as a whole, condos were only 21% of millennial market activity; instead, single-detached made up the bulk with 63%.
Both the Market Insights Report and your Purview property data can help determine if the suburbs are worth your mortgage marketing spend.
The Teranet Market Insights Report provides insightful information about first-time homebuyers, mortgage trends, and more. Click here to become a subscriber and never miss an issue.
Learn more about the Teranet Market Insights Report and Purview’s AVM and property data tools today. Call 1-855-787-8439 or visit www.purview.ca.
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