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With more young Australians entering the market, education, honesty and trust are key for agents looking to engage and guide Gen Z buyers – here’s how they can do it.
With more young Australians entering the market under the 5 per cent First Home Guarantee Scheme, Daniel Di Battista, Di Battista principal, said education and trust were key to engaging Gen Z buyers.
Despite the financial hurdles Gen Z faces, data has shown home ownership continues to be a major aspiration, with McCrindle Research revealing 63 per cent of Gen Z want to own a home one day.
Based in the Melbourne northern suburb of Craigieburn, with a median dwelling price of $683,000 as of October 2025, Di Battista has seen younger Australians enter the market.
Drawing on his experience with younger buyers, Di Battista noted that texting and social media platforms were typically the most effective way to reach out to younger Australians, as they are often less likely to respond to phone calls.
“That’s why we sort of stick with texting and we always call first, but if they don’t answer, we follow-up with the text and then the communication tends to be more positive with the text,” he told REB.
With Gen Z buyers often being less informed about the property market, he said agents can educate them about the intricacies of buying a property, therefore gaining their trust and respect.
“So we’ve got downsizers, we’ve got upsizers, but predominantly the most popular one is always the first-time buyers and how to enter the market,” he said.
According to Di Battista, agencies can utilise informative mailouts, newsletters or blogs on their website to target different markets.
“We do notice a lot of clicks on things like our blogs and our newsletters when we’re targeting first home buyer education.”
Additionally, more traditional methods, such as speaking with buyers in person at open homes or arranging to chat over coffee with them, can also be effective.
“I’ve got one guy that I’m dealing with now, and he’s so appreciative of me just spending time talking to him and guiding him on certain pockets of our suburb where he should maybe try to avoid, just taking time to have a chat with him,” Di Battista said.
As younger buyers remain more wary of real estate agents and cautious of how they spend their savings, Di Battista said agents need to take a particular approach to gain their trust and boost their confidence.
“It’s very daunting – it’s a lot of money and they’ve been saving for a fair bit of time and it’s hard to save money at the moment,” he said.
“They know that if they find that house and they buy it, that bank account goes to zero because that deposit’s going to get transferred to the bank and they’ve got a debt on them.”
Because of buyers’ hesitation, he said agents must earn their trust by demonstrating credibility through real results and case studies – not just words.
“Whether it’s my personal experience or whether it’s a buyer that I had last week, I explain to them how the auction went, what we passed it in at, how we managed to sell it for this amount,” Di Battista said.
“I give them real facts, not just words – words is just very salesman. But if I say, ‘Hey, 18 Midhurst last week – that’s the one that I was telling you that was going to sell for 600 and it sold for 600’.
“We have just to be informative, educate and just be honest with it … Don’t talk salesy.”
On the other hand, he noted that younger buyers have been more aware of identifying agents who have been trying to take advantage of them, thereby further creating a sense of distrust.
“[Agents] have said, ‘Hey, if this house comes to the auction, I should be able to help you get it for 500’. [Buyers] go and get a building inspection, they go and invest their time and energy and then it sells for $700,000.
“And they’re like, ‘Well hold on, you lied’, and then that’s when you don’t earn their trust, they’re gone after that.
“So I do the opposite. I’m just really honest, open and honest with them,” Di Battista said.
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