High-income millennials and Gen Zers are choosing Class A apartments over home ownership. Is it a lifestyle choice or the economy?
National Class A rents average $660 to $2,000 below the average monthly mortgage
Hospitality-focused apartments
Class A apartment properties not only take amenities up a notch, but developers have also created an entirely new class of experiences borrowing heavily from hotels. Glass-edge pools, digital car share, doorman package handling. Rooftop decks with restaurants are just the start.
The one thing: engagement
While physical amenities are hard to reinvent, apartment living has always come down to service. Class A product blends attention to detail and quality site teams to deliver the true end product: memorable experiences.
Shoot for the stars
Recording studios, pickleball courts and maker spaces (machine-equipped woodshops) are great. But creating resident engagement breathes life into physical spaces—and up to a 5 percent lift to NOI.
High energy
In a sea of new product, hot new regionally- centric experiences are the new currency.
Cold plunging promises everything from stimulating white blood cells to decreasing cortisol and increasing baseline dopamine.
$1,294/mo • 773 sq ft • Hot in Houston
- glass-edge pool/spa
- massage rooms
- EV charging stations
- hammock grove
- golf simulator
- sports lounge
- refrigerated storage for grocery deliveries
- dog spa and park
- smart bikes
- fitness mirror
- media room
- regular resident-focused events
- fish-stocked lakes
- outdoor TVs, gas grills
$3,007/mo • 481 sq ft • Hot in San Francisco
- ultra high-speed internet/wifi
- digitally controlled access, packages, utilities
- smart access controlled building, gated garage
- music studio with recording and instruments
- EV charging stations
- onsite commercial market
- state-of-the-art fitness center, yoga studio
- solarium, butterfly sanctuary
- business center, conference room
- roofdeck with gas BBQs
- dog run, pet spa
- community flower garden
- bike storage, repair station
- onsite ebike rentals
- onsite childcare
$2,080/mo • 694 sq ft • Hot in Miami
- 24-hour concierge
- private terrace or balcony
- parking garage
- pool/sauna
- fitness center
- theater, entertainment
- onsite restaurant
- programmable multi-sport simulator
- outdoor entertainment
- house ebikes
- private, secure climate-controlled storage
- business center with coffee bar, conference rooms
- pet spa
$4,831/mo • 740 sq ft • Hot in Manhattan
- indoor tennis court
- full-court basketball
- soccer field
- rock climbing wall
- squash court
- indoor half-pipe skate park
- golf simulator
- fitness center
- boxing studio
- yoga bar studio
$1,841/mo • 726 sq ft • Hot in Denver
Three-quarters of Denver households own big breed dogs making large dog-wash areas luxury must-haves. Top three breeds: Labrador retrievers, German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers
Trend or snapshot in time? Culture of debt
$24,668: American’s median non-mortgage debt (above). By generation, highest to lowest (below):
$33,859 GenXers
$30,558 Millennials
$16,562 GenZers
$18,779 Baby boomers
$400/mo. Millennials and GenZers average spend on travel, recreation and dining out
Source: Cold plunge image, The Spruce, Michelle Parente; Hellodata.com; Zumper.com; Marcus & Millichap Q3 2023 report; Lending Tree Research Study June 24 analyzing 428,000+ anonymized credit reports from users in 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas; Morning Consult 2023 report; Lisa Yeh, COO, Sentral, The Real Deal, September 18, 2023; Apartments.com; Rent Cafe
