Modular builder prepares for public listing
Las Vegas-based Boxabl, a modular home builder, said it signed a $3.5 billion merger agreement Tuesday aimed to help the firm list publicly on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Going public will give Boxabl more funds for expansions, helping to increase the company’s volume and production capabilities.
Boxabl’s flagship product is a 361-square-foot studio unit with a kitchen, bathroom and utility hookups. According to the builder, a casita can cost as low as $900 a month with a $250 down payment. The product is offered in the studio layout or one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations.
The company is developing stackable and connectable models that can form townhouses, multifamily units or larger single-family homes.
It currently has three factories where it builds its homes.
Gen Z expresses homebuying doubts
The majority of Gen Zers — people born between 1997 and 2012 — do not believe they will own a home one day, according to a survey.
Clever Real Estate’s subsidiary Clever Offers asked 922 Gen Zers their thoughts on homeownership in June. A whopping 21% could see a third world war beginning within the next five years more than owning a home in the same timeline.
Respondents pointed to affordability as the largest barrier to homeownership, with 75% saying the high cost of living makes down-payment saving impossible. Another 47% said homes are too expensive.
That’s in comparison to the 80% of respondents that believe a home purchase is a “right” financial move.
But most respondents said they have less than $10,000 in savings.
For those in the generation that do own homes, 28% admitted their parents helped with their down payment and 19% said their parents purchased a home for them.
Workers prefer hybrid schedules
If given the choice, most workers would choose a hybrid work schedule over exclusively remote or fully in-office, according to a Gallup poll.
Workers of all generations opted for the hybrid model, with the fewest share of respondents wanting on-site-only work requirements. Just 10% of baby boomers, the oldest generation surveyed, preferred on-site work.
The poll showed a preference for getting out of the house and interacting with coworkers, but demand remains for time working at home.
Five years from the start of pandemic-induced remote working, employees are finding a balance between the two, but many employers have called workers back into the office.
Amazon mandated returns to the office five days a week beginning in January, as did AT&T and several other large companies.
