SAN FRANCISCO—Wouldn't it be convenient if someone had clear, intelligent answers to most of your CRE-related questions? Problem solved. Nina J. Gruen, a.k.a. Ms. Real Estate, a.k.a. the principal sociologist overseeing market research and analysis at Gruen Gruen + Associates, is here to answer readers' questions.

Dear Ms. Real Estate:

How will America's two largest demographic groups, the Boomers and the Millennials, impact the real estate industry in the coming decade? Will their shopping habits and housing preferences balance out, or not?

—Grounding a Future Demographic Shock

Dear Future Shock,

Your question is right on, since by 2020 the Boomers and Millennials together will account for 50 percent of the total U.S. population. But unfortunately, Ms. Real Estate is unable to provide a definitive response as to the impact of the retail and housing preferences of these two demographic behemoths. The way Ms. Real Estate likes to look at this critical question is to identify which products and services appeal to both demographics, which to one but not so much the other, and which are losing or have already lost their appeal to both.

Below, Ms. Real Estate lists the products and services with increasing and decreasing appeal to the two demographic groups. Fortunately, most of Ms. Real Estate's readers have wisely reconfigured their products or marketing strategies accordingly.

Products that appeal to Boomers and Millennials

• Pet-related products and services – the Holy Grail of retail 
• Higher end bikes – cities and resorts are beginning to cater to the bike enthusiasts. In coming years, golf courses will continue to lose ground to bike paths.
• Multi-family rentals and condos in high density/high amenity locations
• Shoes and purses continue to attract women in both age groups

Products that have stronger appeal to the Boomer generation

• Cars
• In-store shopping
• Cruises
• Cable TV (this does not mean many Boomer households will not also have Netflix and Amazon streaming options)
• And for the cultural mavens, symphony and opera

Products that have stronger appeal to the Millennial generation

• The newest iPhone. This does not suggest that Boomers don't want multi-use smart phones, but they are far less likely to want to be the first in line for the newest Apple iPhone.
• Internet shopping
• Clubbing
• Streaming. Ms. Real Estate has yet to meet a Millennial who is a cable subscriber.
• Social media
• Zipcar, Uber, Lyft instead of car ownership

Products that are losing or have lost their appeal to both demographic cohorts

• Larger sized suburban homes
• Print products
• The traditional exurban mall
• Land line phones