Housing remains at the heart of decision-making. Business heirs take centre stage

Over the next twenty years, global wealth is set to change hands on an unprecedented scale. According to UBS, over the next 20–25 years, more than 70,550 billion euros of wealth will be transferred: around 7,650 billion will be transferred ‘horizontally’, from one spouse to the other, whilst 62,900 billion will pass to subsequent generations. This transfer of wealth concerns not only current accounts, shareholdings and financial portfolios, but also one of the historically most important assets for families:the family home. 

Italia, in particular, is bracing itself for a massive wave of property and flat inheritances. According to calculations by Scenari Immobiliari, more than 2,720 billion euros’ worth of property wealth is currently held by people aged over 70. This stock will gradually pass to children and grandchildren, in a country where around 26 million people own their own homes. The paradox is that, whilst property is set to pass from parents to children, for many young people buying a home is becoming increasingly difficult. Although mortgages for young people and financial incentives (the Consap first-home fund has been extended until December 2027 for amounts not exceeding 250,000 euros, for those under 36 and households with an ISEE not exceeding 40–50,000 euros) have led in recent years to a reduction in the’average age of those taking out a mortgage – the proportion of under-35s rose from 28 per cent to almost 36 per cent between 2019 and 2025 – the Savings Survey by the Einaudi Centre and Intesa Sanpaolo highlights an ongoing crisis in housing affordability.

Job insecurity and insufficient incomes make buying a first home a pipe dream: for the 18–24 and 25–34 age groups, long-term planning is described as a ‘cognitive luxury’ that is difficult to afford. Yet even for the younger generations, home ownership remains one of the most important financial goals. Among 18–24-year-olds who have a specific investment goal, 36.4 per cent cite home ownership, on a par with with retirement.

The picture changes – though not entirely – when we look at young people from entrepreneurial families. According to the Family Office Observatory at the Politecnico di Milano, amongst the Next Gen, Millennials (now aged between 30 and 45) show a particular continuity with the wealth management choices of previous generations: property is, in fact, the type of investment considered a priority. This preference coexists with an interest in traditional financial instruments and in taking a stake in the family business.

Gen Z (currently aged between 14 and 29) appears, by contrast, to be relatively less interested in property and more interested in alternative and digital forms of investment, start-ups, private equity or club deals. However, Professor Josip Kotlar, who heads the Observatory, urges us not to interpret this difference solely in generational terms.