A Look at Housing Preferences Across Different Generations

Do you prefer a large spacious home or a small cozy home? One floor or two? How about outdoor living space? It’s interesting to note that your housing preferences might have something to do with your age.

In 2015, The National Association of Home Builders conducted a study to determine how housing preferences differ across generations. They found many similarities, but also quite a few significant differences between seniors (born in 1945 or earlier), baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1979), and millennials (born between 1982 and 2004).

Differences

• Number of Rooms

  If you’re younger, more is better. Both Gen Xers and millennials look for homes with four or more rooms. Seniors and baby boomers like to stop at three. This trend makes sense when you consider younger generations are raising growing families while the older generations are well past that stage in their lives.

• Number of Levels

  The aging population prefers just one floor, likely because mobility begins to be an issue in declining years. The older generations are pretty steady on this preference too, with 75% of baby boomers and 88% of seniors looking for homes with only one level. On the other hand, less than half of millennials and Gen Xers find a single level home important.

• Size of the Home

  The NAHB study found that most people in all generations actually want a different size home than their current home. However, age again affects which direction they want to go.

  Seniors and baby boomers are mostly looking for homes that are smaller than what they have, hoping for something less than 1,900 square feet. Gen Xers and millennials, on the other hand, want to upgrade to a home of more than 2,300 square feet.

• Finished Basements

  The group that cared the most about finished basements was millennials, with 77% saying this feature is important in a home. Only 43% of seniors find a finished basement to be an important feature.

• Backyards and Front Yards

  Millennials really want a lot of outdoor living space. This generation ranked not one, not two, but three outdoor spaces in their top 10 list of features: the patio, the deck, and the front porch.

Similarities

• Type of Home

  Surprisingly, all generations agreed on the type of home they’re looking for with every generation preferring a single-family detached home over any other type of home.

• Location

  Every generation agrees on the best place to live: Each group ranks the suburbs as the preferred location for their homes, even millennials. Ranking second, from about a quarter of home buyers, is a rural location. City centers are surprisingly last.

• Laundry Room

  Every generation ranked a functional laundry room on the first floor on their Top 10 list, and baby boomers, Gen Xers and millennials actually each ranked this feature as their most wanted feature.

• Lighting and Storage

  All generations agreed again that outdoor lighting is in. All generations put exterior lighting in their top 10 list. Garage storage and a walk-in pantry also rated high on every generation’s list of preferences.

• The Environment

  We’re all getting more eco-friendly, regardless of the year we were born. Energy Star appliances and windows are important to every generation, ranking high on each group’s lists of preferences. The catch? Everyone wants these features, but most people won’t pay for them simply out of a concern for the environment. Every generation wants them to save money and helping the environment is just a bonus.

New Homes

The ability to customize a new home to meet individual needs and wants is just one of the many reasons people are choosing new homes over resale homes these days. As residential home builders successful cater to these differences in housing preferences, new home sales continue to soar with home buyers from different generations able to build a home that is perfect for them!