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SBO-Linknet.com is the home of the Linknet Publishing Network. This is a growing network of active websites covering various areas of interest from Online Marketing to Golf to Personal Health and Real Estate. Real Estate Buyers are Getting Younger and So Must Agents Linknet Real Estate News Digest - December 23, 2005 - The baby boom generation has been the focus for most real estate sales firms for the last two generations, but this is changing rapidly. As that generation gets older and the over 50s become less active in the real estate market, real estate firms are realizing their new target market is getting younger every day. So there is a major effort to attract younger agents into a business that is still dominated by boomers. "The lion's share of the people in this room are baby boomers or veterans," Gee Dunsten, a Maryland agent told sales agents at a recent industry meeting in San Francisco. "Your challenge is going to be to change your focus." His suggestion was that real-estate agents target the 40 million plus Amercians born between 1964 and 1981, the so-called Generation X buyers. "This group that has not gotten the publicity [that baby boomers have] is very, very quickly having a huge effect on us." But beyond just encouraging older agents to focus on younger clients, it is important for real estate firms to hire agents who reflect the market they are trying to reach. And that means bringing on board younger agents who can appeal to Gen X as well as the next geneaation of buyers that is just now entering its 20s. The so-called "echo-boom" generation consists of people born after 1980. There are 75 million people in this group, and the leading edge has just started entering the real estate market. As with all professions dominated by baby boomers, successful real estate firms must make way for the next generation of agents capable of relating to these new customers in their own terms. Las Vegas predictions not good for 2006 A recent Fortune magazine article covering the top 100 real estate markets in the U.S. ranked Las Vegas last based on predicted price growth over the next two years. Prices have been soaring in recent years in Las Vegas, but this study predicts a 13 percent decrease in housing prices for 2006. That is contrasted with a projected increase of 15 percent for San Antonio, and slightly smaller gains for Albuquerque and Salt Lake City. Not all analysts agree. Local Las Vegas consultant, John Restrepo commented, "I get the feeling they didn't fully analyze the Las Vegas economy and what makes it unique." What this study indicates is that while real estate prices generally continue their upward movement, there are other factors that may influence pricing in specific local markets. Toronto Real Estate sets new record for 2005 With just about one week to go in 2005 the Toronto Real Estate Board has reported that the 2004 record for property re-sales has already been broken. The record for 2004 was 83,501 properties. As of Dec. 23, the number for 2005 was 83,547. In spite of gradually increasing interest rates and some talk of a slow down, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is predicting 2006 will be equally strong with about 84,000 sales.
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