From Gen Z to seniors! Commonalities and differences in how they select rental property

First, let's look at the demographics of people who searched "rentals." When analyzing the sex of those searching “rentals,” the majority is female across all age groups, indicating that women are leading the way in gathering information on housing through Internet searches.

Looking at the changes by age group over the past two years, it is clear that the number of people searching “rentals” in their 20s has increased, while people in their 30s have decreased. Other age groups have not shown significant change over this period.

Next, we will look at the ranking of keywords searched together with "rentals" to see the most popular features, etc.

As shown in the table below, "condominium" ranked first, and "pet-friendly" and "2LDK" (abbreviation for "2 Bedroom, Living room, Dining room, Kitchen") were highly ranked. In addition, since there are many people in their 20s searching, keywords like "living alone" seem to be frequently searched as many are looking for single occupancy rentals.

Next, we will compare trends by age group. First, a user attribute map with age on the vertical axis and sex on the horizontal axis is used to visually capture characteristics.

As shown in the figure below, many keywords are concentrated in the younger female demographic, indicating that they are searching for a wide range of topics, including everything from building materials, such as floors, windows, and walls to specific properties, such as designer and renovated properties.

On the other hand, in the same younger age group, men are more likely to search for lease renewal fees, brokerage fees, rent, market rates, and other expenses.

Let's compare the simultaneous search terms in detail for each age group.

A comparison of the rankings of the keyword combinations reveal the following.

・Most searches for "fire insurance" are made by those in their 20s, with searches declining as age increases.
・"Pet-friendly" rose in ranking among those in their 30s to 50s.
・"New construction" becomes a highly-search topic for those in their 30s and older.
・"Detached house" ranked highest from 30s onward.
・"2LDK" is the most frequently searched rental property layout among all age groups.

When people in their 20s are looking for rental property, they search more about “fire insurance” to look into what it is and whether it is necessary or not. Fire insurance definitely seems like something that is of concern among first-time renters, and thus, it ranks first. It is interesting to see how the data illustrates how people learn as their experience increases with age.

Also, as the budget one has available for housing is expected to increase with age, more attention is being paid to single-family homes and pet-friendly properties.

While we can understand the need to live alone in one's 20s and 30s, it was also interesting to see the idea of "living alone" once drop out of the ranking for people in their 40s and then reemerge again for those in their 50s and 60s.

Next, we will analyze the trends by age group regarding the inflow websites that people are visiting after searching "rentals."

The table below shows the ranking of inflow websites by age group. For all ages, "SUUMO" was ranked No. 1, "HOME'S" No. 2, and "at home" No. 3.

The websites highlighted blue are those viewed more frequently by younger people, and websites highlighted pink are those viewed more frequently by older people. "Home Mate" and "Apaman Shop" are popular among younger people, and review websites, such as "Yahoo! Chiebukuro," "Iepula," and "Oshiete! goo" also rank.

On the other hand, real estate portal websites such as "Sumaity" and "Chintai EX" are popular among the older generation.

In this research, we analyzed everyone's concerns about rental properties by age group.

▼Data from Dockpit was used in this case study. Dockpit is an online behavior analytics tool provided by VALUES, Inc., and it allows you to access online behavioral data (updated monthly) via your browser so you can research competitor websites and investigate trends. There is a FREE version of Dockpit, so if you are interested in using it, please register below.