I just came across the following generational home buying data from the National Association of Realtors in the US (via Curbed SF):

It was initially published in July 2013 and so I think the data represents what happened in 2012. The report isn’t exactly clear about the timing. In any event, what I found more interesting is how the various generations perceive the utility of agents. There are different use cases.

Millenials feel the need to have an agent help them navigate the purchasing process. This makes sense, as many of them would be first time buyers. However, Millenials are also almost 4x more likely to engage agents for “a limited set of services as requested by the seller”, as opposed to just a conventional full service brokerage agreement.

On the other hand, older buyers like to have an agent help them identify property deficiencies and sellers over 32 years old use a full service broker more than 80% of the time. I find this interesting because it starts to speak to potential changes in the marketplace.

Looking at a more recent report from the NAR (