What Are Those Millennials Up To?

I'm not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation
I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-generation
Pete Townshend

Everybody's talking about Millennials, Millennials, Millennials...  including me.

From time to time I write some short pieces for the Wisconsin Realtors Association.

For example, for several years I've been writing a short outlook piece for the January issues of the Wisconsin Real Estate Magazine.

Want to see my sage thoughts -- and at least a few howlers?  ("It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future," said noted econometrician and philosopher Lawrence Peter Berra.)

2010 Economic Outlook

2011 Economic Outlook

2012 Deja Vu All Over Again

2013 A Healing Market, Some Risks Remain

2014 Moving from "Meh" to "Wha?"

2015 Searching for Warren G. Harding

2016 In Fed Do We Trust?


Now WRA is starting a new feature, to appear several times per year, called "Insights."  Mike Theo of the WRA, Jim Wood of Wood Communications Group, and I recently prepared the first Insight feature, What REALTORS® Should Know About Millennials.

The largest population cohort ever is hitting the housing market – by the Census Bureau’s count, 83 million Millennials.  How will this play out? Millennials have or are about to reach prime first time homebuyer age.  So far this cohort’s home-buying, and other housing market activity, has been below par, by several past norms.  But there’s some evidence it may be catch-up time, as we explore in this Insight feature.