How will millennials change the way we live work and play

How will millennials change the way we live, work and play?Tapping into the minds and moods of Australia’s millennials can help us recast our vision for homes, workplaces and retail centres, says CBRE’s head of research in Australia, Stephen McNabb.CBRE’s new report, Asia Pacific Millennials: Shaping the Future of Real Estate, surveyed 5,000 millennials to find that Australians are the most doubtful about their prospects as property owners. A massive 66 per cent of Australian millennials said they thought affordability would prevent them from ever entering the market, compared with 61 per cent in Hong Kong, 60 per cent in Great Britain, 40 per cent in the United States and 33 per cent in Germany.Affordability has been an issue for some time, McNabb (pictured) says, but the property industry has an opportunity to resell young people on the idea of home ownership.”Traditional forms of housing may be out of reach, but we need to change the view of what the Great Australian Dream actually means. Our cities are already moving towards more medium and high-density housing, and affordability is certainly part of the equation.”Expectations are changing and supply is responding to that – half of all approvals across Australia last year were for apartments, compared with the historic 30-70 split.”There’s a real opportunity to reposition apartments not as a compromise, but as a lifestyle choice, McNabb says.The survey also found that 61 per cent of Australian millennials expect to work for the same company, or for a small number of companies, throughout their career. Just six per cent want to work for many companies.”This dispels the myth that younger people are less loyal to their employers than previous generations,” McNabb says.”The respondents told us that workplace design, relationships and collaboration were important to them – so they are less likely to move around when they find the right employer, but they are willing to look elsewhere if the work environment isn’t right.”This means asset owners and occupiers themselves need to consider the workplace format in the context of their human resources strategies.” While all generations are attracted to new workplace amenities, CBRE says that this preference is strongest among millennials. Seventy-one per cent of respondents were willing to give up other benefits for a better office environment, and green space, wellness and relaxation facilities have the biggest influence on Australian millennials when looking for a job. “There is an imbalance here between employee expectations and what’s actually being delivered. And landlords and occupiers can get a reasonably large return on investment on these sorts of amenities in terms of higher staff retention,” McNabb says.Millennials represent the fastest growing source of spending power across the region and CBRE’s research found that, while millennials shop online at an average of 4.7 days each month, they still rely on bricks-and mortar shopping centres to provide them with social connections and experiences.Millennials visit retail centres for purposes other than shopping, such as to dine out, banking and visiting exhibitions, at an average of three days per month. However, slower economic growth and a desire to save money for purchasing a home may inhibit future spending on leisure activities.”A decade ago, we thought online would be a big bugbear for retail – but it’s clear there’s an opportunity to maintain the value in real estate assets.”Younger consumers are attracted to assets that offer more than just a shopping mall. We are seeing shopping centre owners invest in experiential retail, change their tenant mix, bring in more food and beverage and international brands, because these things are relevant to millennials.”CBRE Research conducted a global survey of 13,000 young adults aged between 22 and 29 to examine how they live, work and play, and what this means for real estate. The findings were used to produce the Asia Pacific Millennials Survey covering 5,000 respondents in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India and Japan. Download the survey results.