U S A : N E W Y E A R PR E D I CT I O N S
America’s young home buyers will heighten demand for “flowers, shrubs and trees”
AUTHOR: RACHEL ANDERSON
Millennials buying new homes is “good news” for the American horticulture
* A National Association of Realtors (NAR) statistic
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industry, notes AmericanHort’s chief economist Dr Charlie Hall.
eading the “Vaccines, Plants and Dollars – The Year in Review” webinar (held on December 3, 2021), Dr Charlie Hall revealed that, in 2020, 38 per cent of home purchases in the US were by millennials.* “They are going to represent a big chunk of personal disposable income by 2030 – millennials are coming into their moment,” he asserted. Dr Hall also pointed out that two separate sources – namely Axiom Marketing and the National Gardening Survey (2020) - revealed that there were some 18 million new gardeners in the US. “So, we’ve got all these folks that are buying homes who need flowers and shrubs and trees for them. That’s good news for the industry.” Furthermore, Dr Hall revealed that when millennials were asked (by
FLORACULTURE INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2022
39.9 per cent of them said they planned to create more outdoor space.
PENT UP DEMAND
Dr Charlie Hall Axiom) what sort of outdoor living projects they are likely to complete during 2022, 43.8 per cent of them (the greatest response) said they were likely to update their outdoor entertaining space or deck, while
With these trends in mind, Dr Hall predicted that pent up demand for horticulture products will continue in 2023. “I think we are going to see more household events, and people are going to want flowers, shrubs and trees.” Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, Dr Hall also made some other predictions for the coming year. He forecast, for example, that disruptions to the supply chain will necessitate more businessto-business vertical coordination – standing orders, increased lead times, greater use of website shops and online platforms, and more virtual sales contacts/demos. “We are going to utilise technology
