How Gen Z Broke Property Search (And What Comes Next)

Here's an interesting stat that threw my portal playbook out the window faster than a disappearing snap. In our pilot for Roome, a new lifestyle and property app for students, over 50% of all property engagements came from lifestyle triggers, not traditional search. Users were approaching their home search journey through connections to lifestyle factors first, exploring properties last. This data is a complete inversion of the "filter, browse, click" model that's dominated property marketing for the last 25 years.

This isn't just interesting behaviour, it's a generational shift that raises a critical question, can the old portal model survive the next generation?

The inverted sequence

When we started building Roome, we assumed students would search for properties first, then worry about housemates, services and lifestyle tasks later. The data told us otherwise, Gen Z doesn't separate the "what" from the "who", they're not looking for a home and managing relationships later. For this generation, the sequence is inverted: connect, explore, commit.

Traditional portals have conditioned us to experience property search as transactional: apply filters, scroll listings, click out. But if this generation experiences every other product through instant connection, community, and reward, why should finding a home be different?

The transactional mindset is being replaced by a relational one, and platforms built on the old model are facing an innovator's dilemma, the features that made them successful in the past are now preventing them from adapting for the future. 

Your artificial friend in the chaos

Moving home for the first time is terrifying. The questions never stop! What can I afford? How do I set up utilities? What if my housemate or neighbour is a nightmare? Traditional portals throw you into the deep end with a search bar and a hope for the best.

We experimented with reversing this approach, using AI in native chat to guide new users through onboarding at their own pace. Too much interruption felt overbearing, we were likened to a bossy parent (nobody wants that), but too little showed we didn't care. Finding the right balance took trial and error but the sweet spot eliminated 100% of onboarding support issues, not improved, eliminated entirely.

Our initial results saw full onboarding completions jump from 10% to 90%, a huge UX improvement, meaning 90% of users who download today complete full verified profiles before searching. This wasn't so much about benchmarking, although it's over double industry standard, it was about repositioning friction and making users feel supported rather than processed. 

The AI chat integration extended beyond onboarding. Users reporting bugs, suggesting features, or discovering solutions did so together, their feedback went directly to product teams with full context. Users are no longer just customers, they're co-creators who are emotionally invested in the platform's evolution.

If property met WeChat

The comparison to WeChat isn't hyperbolic—it's a blueprint. WeChat evolved from messaging into an everything app (payments, bookings, social networking, lifestyle management) by removing friction from daily tasks. It became indispensable not by doing one thing brilliantly, but by doing everything seamlessly.

Maybe not as dramatic, but there is opportunity learning for modern property platforms; search for a home, build connections, manage budgets, handle bills and utilities, book viewings, track progress, understand contracts… all without leaving the platform, the rewards are vast. Every point of friction removed is a reason to stay.

Traditional portals got comfortable (and very profitable) in the "search and click" era. But if the next generation expects their experience to integrate into their existing digital life, flowing seamlessly from discovery to move-in day and beyond, new players will move fast to destabilize established brands.

Gen Z gamification, can it work?

Most gamification fails because platforms treat it as decoration. Over the years I have seen hundreds of shiny toys for marketing teams, but that adds no lasting user value. As Roome’s pilot progressed we flipped the approach, instead of arbitrary tokens, we created those "micro-moments" of reward tied to real progress. Every return to the app provides a sense of achievement, either connected to their property search strategy, community connections, or self-learning.

Early tests using quizzes and progress badges saw extremely positive responses. The next phase will see us link rewards to services and local offers relevant to their situation and location, combining dopamine hits with warm introductions to useful brands. During pilot testing, we saw over 3,500 students download the app, with over 40% matching to a property, service, or housemate within the first month. These aren't tire-kickers, these are high-intent leads. When users are emotionally invested because they've "won" access to something, conversion doesn't need heavy lifting. They've already sold themselves.

A smarter matchmaker

The real transformation comes from leveraging real-time behaviour with AI to build seamless connections between users, services, and brands at exactly the right moment in their journey.

When a banner ad interrupts your search, it's noise. When your digital companion suggests a broadband provider because you've just agreed on a flat with 3 new housemates, that's a signal, that's value. You're not shouting to be heard, you're already in the room.

Users find homes that match their life, but when they're actively searching for services, they'll always prefer choosing brands they're already emotionally invested in. As Roome grows, our foundations are set to create highly lucrative partnerships without ever charging users. It's a three-way win that traditional "interruption, impression, click-through" advertising models simply can't match.

Cutting the revenue veins

Switching from an agent-first to consumer-first model means abandoning the bloodline of predictable, recurring revenue from agent subscriptions and premium listing or brand marketing features. 

By match-making properties to users instead of displaying them in an open marketplace, all that additional revenue from premium positions evaporates. Being "position one" doesn't matter when the algorithm delivers the right match to each user. Enabling direct communication from consumer to seller or partner brands? That could kill agent relationships, relationships portals have spent decades building and monetising.

There's also a trust gap, brand equity built on "we have all the listings" doesn't automatically translate to "we understand how you want to live." and this generation is ruthless about abandoning brands that don't meet expectations. They vote with their thumbs, and they do it fast.

Scale and inventory still matter of course, but they're no longer the primary defensible moats against a better experience. Network effects work both ways, if users shift platforms, agents follow eyeballs, and the flywheel spins in reverse.

“If it ain't broke….”

This isn't a distant future scenario, the lifestyle-driven platforms capturing students and young renters today are the canary in the coal mine for generational behaviour shift. As these users migrate to professional renters, buyers, and eventually sellers, they'll expect (maybe demand) the same integrated approach they experience everywhere else in their digital lives.

Those expectations won't fade, they'll intensify.

Roome’s lasting impact

At Roome, we didn't set out to disrupt portals. We simply asked; what if we built the product this generation actually wants, not one we think they should use?

The answer led us from our well worn search filters to lifestyle integration, from passive browsing to active community building, from content scrolling to connection first. And in that evolution lies both a warning but also an exciting opportunity for every traditional player in this space.

Because the future isn't arriving, it's already here… and this generation doesn't wait.

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About author

Hannah Parker is a fractional CPO Roome and product strategist at Inoki, where she works with early-stage companies to build products for the next generation of users. She's currently working with Roome to reimagine how Gen Z finds homes and builds communities. Her focus is on generational shifts in digital behavior and how platforms can better serve emerging user expectations.

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About Roome

Roome is a lifestyle platform that helps students find homes, match with housemates, and connect to services, events, and communities that unlock their best uni life. Currently partnered with six UK universities and expanding fast. Roome is available today on iOS and Android.

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