PORTLAND, Ore. — Those 20- to 34-year olds that are looking for their own places after having to move back in with parents could have a "huge impact" on commercial real estate growth.
John Chang, vice president of research services at Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, shared that insight during the keynote session at CU Business Group's Business Services Conference Monday.
There are estimated 80 million "echo boomers" in the United States, Chang said. Over the last year, the "lion's share" or 75% of employment was secured by this group, he added.
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For the CRE sector, that could potentially be a surge of consumers in the 20 to 34-year old range looking for apartments and other places to rent and buy. Credit unions may do well to pay attention since persons in their 30s, 40s and 50s haven't been finding jobs at the pace as echo boomers, Chang offered.
Apartment rents are at about what they were before the recession, he noted. Overall, apartments, office, retail, industrial spaces are moving in right direction with industrial being one of the slowest to recover. Meanwhile, office space has the most distressed properties to the tune of $43 billion.
Long term, looking out more than 10 years, Change said CRE appreciation rates look strong.
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