CAROUSELL Philippines expects millennials and those belonging to the “Generation Z” demographic to lead property sales on its online platform in the next three years.
“In the next three years, we are foreseeing them to become aggressive when it comes to property selling. It’s also related to the stages of their lives and the current purchasing power that they have,” Carousell Philippines General Manager Djon T. Nacario told Businessworld in a recent interview.
Carousell, an online classified market space, forecasts that in the next three years, 47% of property buyers will be millennials, often described as those born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s.
Zoomers, or those from the so-called Generation Z that succeed millennials, are expected to account for 40% of buyers in the same span of years.
“Based on property trends and the trend of the market, we are seeing the millennials are actually the ones who are becoming more affluent, of course, as they progress with their careers. That’s why they are becoming more bullish when it comes to property investments,” Mr. Nacario said.
He added that Generation Z users follow closely behind as they are now entering the workforce.
“So, very naturally they will start looking for properties for rent, even small studios and as they progress with their careers and become more affluent then, that’s the time,” he added.
In the past three years, Carousell saw that 65% of property buyers are millennials, while zoomers account for 20%.
According to Mr. Nacario, Carousell’s property segment is one of its top categories, recording a 42% increase in house and lot searches and a 24% increase in apartment searches from last year.
“In terms of our overall priorities, property is always and has always been there since the last few years and that’s also the reason why we’re doing the property expo, the biggest hybrid property event in the Philippines,” Mr. Nacario said.
“Property is a very strong category and we intend to continue investing in it,” he added.
Carousell reported an average of 3 million monthly property listing views and more than 120,000 active property listings on its platform. It invested in product initiatives that aim to make the property-buying experience better for its users.
These initiatives include a partnership with property website Property24, which widened property listings and introduced a new property development page and video listings.
“We know that there are some users that are time-starved that they don’t have the time to go to the property in actual or physical form, so we give them that option to view the property virtually using the video,” Mr. Nacario said.
Carousell is one of the leading online classified market spaces in Southeast Asia. The online platform is present in many markets, particularly in the region with 10 brands under it. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
