What Home Buyers Want in 2021
Are you selling a house or building a house in 2021? This NAHB survey should give you a lot of insight!
According to a newly released survey of home shoppers and buyers conducted last summer by the National Association of Home Builders about 25% of Americans say the Coronavirus pandemic has changed their housing preferences.
After declining for four years, a number of key trends—including the number of bedrooms and bathrooms—reversed course in 2020 as a result of shifting buyer preferences in the wake of COVID-19— rising closer to 2015 peaks. The average size home remained flat at 2,486 square feet, while the percentage of homes with four or more bedrooms and three or more bathrooms rose to 46 percent and 33 percent, respectively.
Overall, 80% or more of survey respondents in NAHB’s 2021 What Home Buyers Really Want report indicate the following are the home features that are most likely to resonate in the market in 2021. The top features desired include:
- Laundry room: 87%
- Exterior lighting: 87%
- Ceiling fan: 83%
- Energy Star-rated windows: 83%
- Patio: 82%
- Double kitchen sink (side-by-side): 81%
- Walk-in pantry: 81%
- Front porch: 81%
- Energy Star-rated appliances: 81%
- Hardwood flooring (in the living room on the main level): 81%
- Full bath on the main level: 80%
- Energy-efficient lighting: 80%
Why are some of these features so desired since the pandemic?
Exterior lighting both adds a feeling of security and extends the amount of time homeowners can spend outside on the shortest days. Outdoor spaces such as patios with bonfire pits and covered front porches allow home owners to utilize more space connecting the indoors and outdoors and providing flexibility and the opportunity to get fresh air socially.
Energy efficiency saves money and reduces environmental impact. These features were starting to trend before COVID-19 flipped our lives on end.
Walk-in pantries accommodate all those machines for cooking at home when the restaurants are closed and provides space for those large grocery orders, reducing trips to the store.
Want the room by room details of what buyers are looking for in TODAY'S market? Contact me today!
So then, what features turn-off buyers? Forty percent or more of survey respondents rated the following items as least desirable in a home or development complex:
- Elevator: 56%
- Glass walls: 54%
- Daycare center in the development: 50%
- Wine cellar: 48%
- Pet washing station: 47%
- Roof partially or completely covered by plants: 46%
- Golf course: 46%
- In-law suite: 42%
- Cork flooring (in the living room on the main level): 41%
- Dual toilets in primary bath: 40%
Any of these surprise you? I would love to hear about it!
*Watch 2021 Minnesota Home seller tips
You might also like my Ultimate Guide to the 2021 Spring Parade of Homes in MN.
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