Billionaire and real estate mogul Sam Zell says that home prices have recovered from the housing crash a decade ago, but homebuyer demand has not.
In an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Zell says, "It's interesting that all the statistics recently on housing suggest that demand is down but prices aren't down. That doesn't necessarily make sense. We're dealing with a changed housing market." Zell explains that lower homeownership rates, particularly among those under 30 years old, reflect market timing, locality, and affordability, "We're dealing with a housing market that is much less dependent on starter housing than historically has been the case."
Zell doesn't think Millennials, who are more likely to have kids in their 30s rather their 20s, are a "new breed or new DNA. But he sees the change in habits as new opportunities in the market. "That means that we have a huge group of people with enormous disposable income that we need to address and deal with as customers," he said. "I, eventually, think that they'll buy houses and have children, but I think with a much more connected-to-the-center-of-the-city approach."