What Gen Z Is Telling the Property Industry And Why It Matters More Than You Think
Gen Z is now shaping how Australia consumes media. Their preferences for short-form content, decentralised influence and peer-driven discovery aren’t fringe behaviours. They’re becoming the baseline for how information is found, filtered and trusted.
For property, this shift is more than a media trend. It’s a market signal.
Across every consumer category, Gen Z is redefining what credible communication looks like. They prioritise relatability over production value, people over brands, and real-world experience over traditional advertising. Because media behaviour flows upward generationally, not downward, older generations are increasingly adopting similar patterns. What Gen Z normalises today becomes mainstream tomorrow.
Why this matters for property
Gen Z will soon emerge as the next wave of home buyers, especially as first-home buyer incentives draw them closer to the market. But their expectations are forming long before they reach that point.
Gen Z engages with media differently: they gravitate toward short-format video on platforms like TikTok, Instagram (Reels) and YouTube Shorts rather than traditional TV or print.
The shift isn’t just in entertainment – it’s how they discover information, inspiration, lifestyle ideas and ultimately make decisions. Many Australians, especially younger ones, are moving away from legacy entertainment and preferring social video platforms for news, trends and what interests them.
Gen Z values authenticity, human voices and relatability. They respond better to real people sharing real experiences than to polished corporate messaging.
That matters because – when they apply this lens to property, the early perceptions they form (about what “home” looks like, what “community” feels like, what “value” means) will stick.
If developers, builders or marketers continue relying on classic sales-driven messaging and staged campaigns, they risk being invisible by the time Gen Z is ready to buy.
Where the opportunity sits
Traditional marketing still has a role but it’s no longer enough on its own. The industry can’t keep depending on top-down messaging when audiences increasingly respond to content that feels lived-in, conversational and human.
The winning approach lies in distributed influence.
When information is shared through real people – residents, customers, contractors, staff, suppliers, community partners – it lands differently. It carries context, credibility and social proof. Because these voices already have built-in trust among their networks, their reach cuts through in ways conventional advertising rarely can.
Social-media-based content isn’t just for attention or engagement anymore – it’s the new discovery engine. For a brand launching a new community or development, this kind of influence-driven content can help shape early perceptions, build warm awareness and set up long-term pipelines.
What PropSquad enables
Instead of pushing messages out, PropSquad helps brands distribute them through the people real buyers already trust. As influence moves closer to the ground, the content that emerges is more organic, more relatable and more trusted.
With PropSquad you’re not just showing off render images or listing features. You’re reflecting how people actually discover places to live – via genuine stories, honest voices and grounded experiences.
This isn’t just media strategy. It’s a shift in how the next generation defines home, community and value.
In a changing media environment, the property market must adapt or risk becoming invisible. Those who move early will build stronger pipelines, stronger credibility and stronger long-term relationships with future buyers.
Those who don’t will be marketing to an audience that has moved on.