Study Shows Buyers Want More Variety

A new housing survey offers buyer preference insights by housing type, location, purchase motivations, age, and depth of interest in master-planned communities.

According to real estate advisory firm RCLCO's 2018 Housing and Community Preference Survey, while 85 percent of current new housing being offered is single-family detached, many homebuyer hopefuls would consider denser, attached residential products if they were available in the right locations at an affordable price. The report adds that attached products may be a solution to address housing's affordability crisis, and to provide greater supply for buyers to access.

Interestingly, 2018 is the first year of the survey in which households aged 35 to 44 years are growing more than households aged 25 to 34 years old, "such that there is a growing pool of financially stable young adults who could substantially impact the for-sale housing market, who also face high barriers to homeownership given the limited supply of new entry-level product," says the report.

RCLCO surveyed over 23,500 persons across the U.S., which resulted in 3,430 qualified survey participants who are age 18 or over, have incomes of $50,000 or over, and either purchased a home in the last year or have intentions to purchase a home in the next 12 to 24 months.

Additionally, RCLCO targeted 15 metropolitan areas, identified by RCLCO's Momentum Index to be the most promising and active markets for the for-sale housing industry, and set a quota for each market to ensure a relatively even geographical distribution. The survey indicates that most Americans, including a majority of millennials, continue to view homeownership positively and believe it's a good investment.

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