This communal instinct extends to the home as well; more shoppers view it as a refuge. More than two-thirds, for instance, said they are going out less, and nearly 80 percent feel that spending more time with their families “has become more important to me.” Floor plans conducive to family time and at-home entertaining will undoubtedly resonate with these buyers.
SAVING MONEY AND THE EARTH
Since the survey polled customers looking at new homes, it’s not surprising that half the respondents said they would prefer to buy a newly built home. But shoppers don’t seem as locked into that desire as buyers of the past have been. Nearly three-fifths of the respondents—and more than 70 percent of shoppers in their 20s and 30s—said they were looking at both new and existing houses, understandable considering some of the deals on existing homes.
Brave New World
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Community and energy efficiency top their lists of priorities.
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But where builders and their products fit into that vision differs for each buyer group.
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By 2011, half of all homeowners will be over 50. But the current housing landscape doesn't necessarily provide what they want -- or need.
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Millennials make up almost a third of the U.S. population, and they will fundamentally change how you do business.
However, many shoppers still perceive a new house as a better bargain, partly because they believe it will be more energy efficient than an older house. And if this survey does anything, it shows how the relationship between environmental protection and the costs of running a house is emerging as a seminal factor when shoppers select one house over another.
While they may not be sure about how their homes affect the planet’s ecological balance, shoppers are dead certain that changes in how the nation as a whole is living are in order. All but 5 percent of those polled agreed, to a greater or lesser degree, with the statement “we will destroy the environment if we continue living the way we do.”
Anywhere from 80 percent to 95 percent of respondents now see energy-saving HVAC systems, windows, lighting, and water fixtures as “very important” or “essential” to their homes. There are limits, though, to how green shoppers want to be. More than 70 percent may agree that solar panels are important, but fewer than one in three is willing to see his or her mortgage payments rise by $150 to $200 per month to defray the $20,000 to $30,000 installation cost.
More than half of those polled said they’d be willing to pay between $2,000 and $5,000 more to include an energy-saving feature in their new home, as long as they could recoup the cost over time, preferably within two years. (Just under 20 percent said they’d shell out up to $10,000 per feature.) But if the returns aren’t there, shoppers become decidedly less eco-friendly: Nearly one-quarter said they wouldn’t pay extra if they couldn’t recoup the cost, and about the same percentage said they’d only spend up to $1,000 or $2,000.