Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • March 14, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com said the Wallingford-based home builder. Like Verna, home builders in Connecticut and nationwide are weighing how to satisfy the needs of two buying groups that now make up the majority (63 percent) of U.S. home purchas- ers — Boomers born from 1945 to 1964, most whom are at or nearing retirement, and have sizable nest eggs; and Millennials, the oldest of whom turned 35 and still have their career and earnings peaks ahead of them. Verna says she offers features she knows appeal to both groups, whether they be first- time or move-up buyers, or downsizers: Open, amenity-laden, luxe interiors for watching big-screen TVs or entertaining grandkids; smaller front- and backyards. Other central Connecticut home builders paint similar portraits of Boomers and Millen- nials: Although decades separate the young- est of both groups, they are more alike in their housing tastes and preferences than they are different, which some Connecticut builders admit, makes it relatively easy to satisfy both. Builders, too, say they have witnessed one defining characteristic of Millennials that separates them from, and makes them a more challenging sell than, their Baby-Boomer par- ents: Patience. "The sense of urgency is no longer there with Millennials,'' said Torrington home build- er Greg Ugalde, president of T&M Building Co. Inc. "They are very patient buyers who don't feel the need to have to jump into a home purchase.'' Of the eight neighborhoods in the state where T&M is active, Ugalde said, one in South Windsor appeals to both generational groups with a mix of 15 single-family houses, priced from $250,000 to $400,000; 12 duplex- es; and 128 units of attached housing. There, T&M pitches buyers/renters, he said, on the development's "maintenance-free'' aspects, plus choices of appliances and lighting packages, and amenities such as a wine chiller. "They may be motivated in slightly differ- ent ways,'' Ugalde said, " … but at the end of the day, the most cost-effective buildings that we can introduce to the market are going to be welcomed by both groups.'' Vernon builder Santini Homes is concentrating mostly on building large, spa- cious apartments — 48-unit The Grand Lofts and 48-unit Deer Valley North — to rent at $950 to $2,500 a month predominately to Mil- lennials, Vice President Kevin Santini said. As a hedge, it, too, is constructing a hand- ful of single-family houses, priced around $600,000 and targeted at Boomers. "We still get a ton of Baby Boomers on the high-end stuff,'' Santini said. But the second-generation builder says it's just a matter of time before Millennials — who have been on the buying sidelines due to high student loan debt and a desire to rent — really begin flexing their fiscal and sartorial muscles on housing markets in Connecticut and across the U.S. "The Millennials in the next five years will be buying lots of homes,'' Santini said. The reason is that rising apartment rents in Greater Hartford, Connecticut and the nation increase Millennials' desire to own a home, said Joanne Carroll, chair of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Con- necticut's Sales and Marketing Council. This year, Carroll said, should be the first in some time in which permits for single- family homes increase as a percentage of all building permits. Last year, one of every three building permits issued statewide was for a single-family home; the rest were for dwellings with two or more living units. "2016 home sales are off to an unusu- ally strong start in the Hartford area, with January being the third consecutive month that both sales and prices of single-family homes and condominiums have increased,'' said Carroll, publisher/editor of the associa- tion's magazine, Connecticut Builder. In Simsbury, Nelson Construction is mar- keting its new, 20-unit condo community — Mill Pond Crossing. Nearby, Nelson also is developing its 74-lot subdivision, Carson Way, off Stratton Brook Road. President Chris Nelson said he's pitching both developments to empty-nesters and Mil- lennials. So far, 10 condos priced $365,000 to $450,000 have sold, along with 16 single-fam- ily houses ranging from $420,000 to $550,000. Nelson said that aside from pricing and features in the dwellings he's marketing, his company also pitches the town itself as an amenity, a concept embraced by buyers young and old alike. In a nod to Millennials' comfort with tech- nology, Nelson Construction's marketing homepage, for example, is laced with informa- tional text, including details about the efficiency and sustainability of its homes' energy systems, and a photo gallery of its models. The website eventually will be upgraded with more and bet- ter photos, including video, Chris Nelson said. "Millennials, in general, aren't reading print materials, because they do more online,'' he said. Back at HillCrest Village, Christine Conroy, 26, and fiancé Matt Cassidy, 30, are settling into the three-bedroom, 2,200-square-foot, two- story home they moved into last November. They were the first HillCrest buyers to close on their $399,000 dwelling, Liz Verna said. Both from Seymour, Conroy was living with her parents, while Cassidy resided in a family condo in town. They originally were shopping for a condo of their own, but were losing hope of finding one with all the fea- tures they wanted until fate stepped in. Conroy said her grandfather had spied Hill- Crest Village and suggested they go for a look. They attended an "open house,'' and within two hours, "we fell in love with everything and put down a deposit,'' said Conroy, who works in the estimating department of a Farmington elec- trical contractor. Cassidy is a pediatric nurse in Hartford. "Yes, we spent a little bit more than the condo,'' Conroy said, " … but we know can stay there 10 to 20 years. It's something we can grow into.'' n A young couple's dream home from page 1 Who's buying U.S. houses? For the second consecutive year, a 2015 study by the National Association of Realtors found that the largest group of recent buyers was the Millennial generation: S O U R C E : N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F R E A L T O R S Connecticut Monthly Housing Permits by Type Total units* 1-unit 2-units 3-4 units 5+ units Jan. '15 264 116 6 3 139 Jan. '16 154 109 0 3 42 2015 Totals 5,883 2,433 84 109 3,257 D A T A S O U R C E : U . S . C E N S U S B U R E A U V I A C T D E P A R T M E N T O F E C O N O M I C A N D C O M M U N I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T * H O M E P E R M I T N U M B E R S A R E B A S E D O N 1 0 4 C O N N E C T I C U T M U N I C I P A L I T I E S R E P O R T I N G . Clockwise (from left) a completed Verna Homes dwelling at Southington's HillCrest Village. Builders say interiors with luxe open areas and stone kitchen countertops are among popular amenities for Millennial and Boomer buyers. P H O T O S | P A B L O R O B L E S Millennials (age 34 and younger) 32% Generation X (ages 35-49) 27% Baby Boomers (ages 50-68) 31% Silent Generation (ages 69-89) 10%

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