ABOUT THIS BRIEF
• Out Leadership is the world’s first global LGBT+ business organization, partnering with 70+global multinationals to help them realize the upside of inclusion - Return on Equality™.
• Real estate professionals and organizations who embrace inclusion as a core principle have the opportunity to set themselves apart from the crowd in a competitive marketplace – particularly because the legal landscape in the United States for LGBT+ people is so murky, and the concerns of potential clients are so prevalent.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• While it constitutes just 3.8% of the population of the United States, the LGBT+ community has disproportionate economic influence, because many straight people view themselves as allies of their LGBT+ friends and family members, and 82% of self-identified allies take a company’s perspective on LGBT+ issues into consideration when making purchasing decisions.
• Many LGBT+ people currently live in jurisdictions where they are not protected from housing discrimination, and may be particularly keen to engage with real estate professionals who identify as inclusive.
• The advent of marriage equality means that more LGBT+ people will form households; 52% of unmarried LGBT+ people have expressed the intent to marry in the future, and marriage is a leading driver of real estate market engagement.
• Millennials are the most pro-LGBT+ generation, by significant margins. They’re more likely to self-identify as LGBT+, and they’re more likely to be allies. LGBT+ inclusion is what Millennials expect, both when they’re making a purchasing decision and when they’re looking for work.
• Inclusion is an important issue no matter where you work, from Salt Lake to San Francisco – LGBT+ people and their allies are everywhere, even in very conservative cities and states.
LGBT+ POPULATION DENSITY
The most recent Gallup estimate of LGBT+ populations by state found that even states that have historically created unfriendly legal environments for LGBT+ people, such as North Carolina and Indiana, have populations of LGBT+ people close to the national average: 3.3% and 3.7%, respectively.
THE LGBT+ REAL ESTATE MARKET OPPORTUNITY
Understanding the size of the LGBT+ market
• The combined purchasing power of LGBT+ people in the United States rose about 3.7 percent to $917 billion in 2015, rivaling the purchasing power of other, larger, American minority groups, an annual analysis conducted by Witeck Communications found.
• In comparison, African Americans’ spending power was estimated at $1.2 trillion last year, with Hispanic Americans at $1.3 trillion and Asian Americans at $825 billion, according to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth.
The amplifying effect of the ally marketplace
• Family and friends of LGBT+ people are increasingly likely to consider questions of inclusion: 82% of self-identified allies consider whether a company or brand is LGBT+ inclusive when making a purchase decision.
• Allies are everywhere: Out Leadership research indicates that 45% of consumers self-identify as allies, meaning that they support equal rights for LGBT+ people. A majority of Millennials and Gen X respondents say they’re allies.
LGBT+ people are in the real estate market
• A 2015 study released by the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP) and sponsored by Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate (BHGRE) found that 54% of LGBT+ respondents own real estate, and 25% plan to purchase real estate in the next three years.
• The same survey found that, for current LGBT+ homeowners, key motivators for purchasing a new home are: the desire to live in a better city or neighborhood (76%), the desire to live in a bigger home (57%), and getting married to a partner (56%).
LGBT+ people express strong concerns about potential discrimination in the real estate market
• They’re more concerned about being discriminated against by their new neighbors than they are about encountering bias during the sales process, but no part of the process is without concern:
Source: Adapted from the 2015 LGBT Home Buyer and Seller Survey released by NAGLREP and sponsored by BHGRE.
THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE
• Federal Law does not protect LGBT+ people against discrimination; many states do, but many states have also codified a right to discriminate.
• Many LGBT+ people currently live in jurisdictions where they are not protected from housing discrimination, and may be particularly seeking to engage with real estate professionals who identify as inclusive.
• Housing discrimination against LGBT+ people takes many forms. For example, LGBT+ people might not be shown properties owned by certain sellers, or properties in particular neighborhoods. It can mean that finding adequate housing can be harder for single LGBT+ people, as well as for people in same-sex relationships.
THE IMPACT OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY
Marriage equality and household legitimization
• Obergefell v. Hodges made marriage equality the law of the land in June 2015; more than 100,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot in the months since.
• As of October 2, 2015, 99.9 percent of Americans live in counties that issue licenses to same-sex couples. A few counties in Alabama, Kentucky and Texas continue to hold out.
• Gallup reports that in some states more than half of all same-sex couples living together are now married, a huge shift in a country where no state recognized such weddings before 2004. Nationally, the data indicate that among gay and lesbian couples living together the share who are married has increased from 38% before the high court’s decision to 45% now. Family creation and real estate market engagement
• 52% of unmarried LGBT+ people say they hope to marry, someday. So do 59% of LGBT+ Millennials.
• Marriage and starting a family is a driver of home purchase consideration for LGBT+ people, just as it for straight people.
• However, marriage equality is not seen as a magic bullet for LGBT+ couples who seek to start families by having children or adopting. Parental rights remain a patchwork – marriage equality does not equal adoption equality, and many LGBT+ couples who wish to start families are still gravitating toward states and municipalities with legal regimes that are more favorable.
THE MILLENNIAL IMPERATIVE
Millennials are the largest, most pro-LGBT+ generation in American history
• By 2025, Millennials will constitute 75% of the labor market.
• Millennials are almost twice as likely to personally identify as LGBT+ as the general population, and they’re also more likely to identify as allies; 71% support marriage equality.
• A majority of Millennials support comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBT+ people. Millennials support nondiscrimination no matter what type of region they live in:
Millennials place a premium on inclusive workplaces, and associate inclusion with innovation
• Millennials define diversity differently – and in terms of business impact. They acknowledge that inclusion is the right thing to do, but they also see it as the means to a business end – innovation:
• Companies that seek to recruit and retain top Millennial talent need to create workplaces that foster inclusive cultures.
• 83% percent of millennials are actively engaged when they believe their organization fosters an inclusive culture – compared to 60% who are actively engaged when their organization does not foster an inclusive culture.
POTENTIAL LGBT+ CUSTOMERS ARE EVERYWHERE
• The ten metropolitan areas in the U.S. with the highest percentage of LGBT+ people contains some cities you might expect, such as San Francisco, Boston, and Los Angeles, as well as some you might not, such as Salt Lake City, Denver, and Hartford.
• Even in the eleven municipalities with the lowest percentage of LGBT+ people, the average is about 3.2% of the population.
• No matter where you do business, understanding the needs and perspectives of the LGBT+ and ally marketplace will position you competitively with potential customers and affilated agents.
SPECIAL THANKS
Thanks to our partners at Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate for initiating and sponsoring the creation of this brief, and for further educating businesses both within and outside of real estate about the impact of inclusion as a means to drive business, innovation and progress.
WORKS CITED
1. “San Francisco Metro Area Ranks Highest in LGBT Percentage,” Frank Newport and Gary J. Gates, Gallup, 2014.
2. “The 2015 LGBT Home Buyer and Seller Survey,” NAGLREP, 2015.
3. “Same-Sex Marriages Up After Supreme Court Ruling,” Jeffrey M. Jones and Gary J. Gates, Gallup, 2015
4. “Out in the World,” CTI, Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Kenji Yoshino, 2016.
5. “The Radical Transformation of Diversity & Inclusion: The Millennial Influence,” Christie Smith, Stephanie Turner, Deloitte, 2015.
6. “How Millennials Want to Work and Live,” Gallup, 2016.
7. “America’s Millennials: Still Looking for Change for Generation Progress,” The Center for American Progress, 2015.
8. “Half of unmarried LGBT Americans say they would like to wed,” Seth Motel and Meredith Dost, Pew Research Center, 2015.
9. “How Race and Religion Shape Millennial Attitudes on Sexuality and Reproductive Health,” Robert P. Jones and Daniel Cox, Public Religion Research Institute, 2015.