Recent survey data show that 60 million U.S. households have a dog, and 81 percent of respondents in a National Association of Realtors survey said they’d take their pets’ needs into account when choosing their next home.
Millennials are "leading the pack" spoiling their pets the most. In response to this trend, homes and entire communities are becoming dog-friendly to attract pet-loving homebuyers. The NAR says that fences, dog doors, and laminate flooring are among the most common pet-friendly home updates Americans make. NerdWallet reports that other popular pet-friendly improvements include built-in dog beds, cubbies, washing stations, and dog bowls.
In the Sacramento, California, area, homebuilder Taylor Morrison has 15 communities. Most of its homebuyers are dog owners, leading the company to design dog runs, built-in dog beds and other dog-friendly options that can be added to its properties. Aren Bazzocco, Taylor Morrison’s Sacramento division president, lives in the Calabria community in Newcastle, California. For the family’s Shih Tzu, Chloe, they added an outdoor pet-washing station and a laundry room dog door that opens onto a fenced exercise area with synthetic turf and a concrete walkway.
