The ageing of millennials and baby boomers  is increasingly having profound effects on the global real estate market.

In its 2024 Private Markets Outlook, BlackRock says these two “giant generational cohorts” are moving into new phases of life over the next several years, which will deeply affect real estate trends. Millennials are growing their families, resulting in an increased demand for affordable housing stock and related necessity retail, while baby boomers are creating a “silver wave” of demand for medical office space, destination retail and hospitality properties.

The report cites figures from Oxford Economics, which estimate that 1.8 billion millennials across the globe are in the process of forming families, resulting in more demand for larger-format rental apartment units and single-family, suburban houses across the globe. This is due to a generational shift that has made homeownership unaffordable in many countries. In addition to boost