Roofing Shingles Made for Millennials

By Malarkey Roofing Products.    

The unique changes Millennial homebuyers are making on the housing and roofing markets.  

Millennials, or those born between 1981 and 1997, are starting to purchase homes. Contrary to previous trends, where Millennials showed little interest in home buying, the generation is turning towards homeowning, but in a much different fashion than previous generations. Similarly, this generation’s expectations for home and roofing improvement projects are also unique. Malarkey Roofing Products® is conscious of these differences and manufactures products with sustainability in mind for these new homeowners and the increasingly populated planet. 

Next generation of homeowners 

Millennials are “bypassing the traditional gateway to homeownership – the starter, or entry-level, home – and buying larger, more expensive houses where they’re likely to raise families and maybe even grow old. [They] are even purchasing bigger homes than their predecessors at similar ages,” wrote Paul Davidson recently in USA Today. “From 2012 to 2016, nearly a third of buyers age 33 to 37 bought four-bedroom homes compared to about 24% in that age group in 1980, 1990 and 2000,” added Davidson, citing a Census Bureau data analysis of by Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist of Veritas Urbis Economics. 

Similarly, a 2017 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study by the National Association of Realtors' found that millennials were the largest group of homebuyers for the fourth consecutive year. 

U.S. Census Bureau data show that homeownership rates are highest for those householders ages 65 years and over (79.2 percent) and lowest for the under-35 age group (36 percent). But that 36 percent is significant, because it's an increase from 34.7 percent a year earlier. As the Wall Street Journal observed, that “was by far the largest increase of any age group” over the prior year… 

“The state of housing is, to a great extent, being determined by millennials,” wrote Barry Ritholtz in Bloomberg this year. “The largest home-buying generation since the baby boomers is growing up. To a large degree that is what’s driving the market. And, I suspect, this demographic is likely to continue being the central force in the real estate market for decades to come.” 

Sustainable expectations 

Environmental issues and sustainability are chiefly important for the generation inhabiting a world of over seven billion people. These are so important to the group that, despite coming of age during the Great Recession, a 2015 Nielsen global online study found that almost three-quarters of millennials continue to be most willing to pay for sustainable offerings. The U.S. Census Bureau also from that year, estimated more than a quarter of the nation’s population is made up of millennials. 

“Millennials are a diverse demographic,” wrote Deep Patel in Forbes, “but what millennials do have largely in common are their values — namely, sustainability and social responsibility.” 

How Malarkey is making roofing shingles more sustainable 

Malarkey’s new polymer modified asphalt roofing shingles are designed and manufactured with Nexgen™, an asphalt formulated with polymers made from repurposed materials. This innovation is Malarkey’s next generation of asphalt innovation – and made for the next generation of homebuyers and homeowners. For more than 60 years, Malarkey Roofing Products has continually sought to innovate our products for improved performance and service life, while limiting their impact on the environment. 

In addition to advancements in roofing asphalt, Malarkey’s solar reflective shingles such as the Ecoasis™ Costa, use cool roofing granules. The granules are manufactured to reflect the UV, or infrared, portion of sunlight. This enables the colors of the shingle to be seen by the naked eye, while still allowing the roof to stay cool. Roofs that reflect sunlight and reduce heat absorption also help reduce the urban heat island effect, a significant environmental issue for cities in warm climates such as Los Angeles. 

In closing, with the current – and future- generation of homebuyers being the largest generation since baby boomers, buying larger houses than baby boomers, and holding sustainability as a primary driver or their purchasing decisions, Malarkey is uniquely positioned to provide quality, performance-driven roofing products to meet this demand. 

Learn more about Malarkey in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.malarkeyroofing.com.  

Original article source: Malarkey