I saw an interesting study recently on what Americans want in a dream home. Northshore Fireplace surveyed 2,000 Americans to determine their hopes for a house in the future. It turns out, people are thinking big.
According to the results, the average American wants a home with 7.5 rooms in a comfortable 2,195-sq. ft. home. Boomers prefer a beach location, Gen-X is partial to the country, and Millennials like the suburbs. Among the most important features was “a view with peace and quiet.” By the way, new homes are in style now, not some crummy old renovation (ahem), and the “most desired luxury” is land and privacy.
When it comes to exterior style, Millennials and Gen-X prefer a modern look, while Boomers prefer a ranch style. As far as interior styles, males want a modern look while females leaned more traditional. The most popular words used to describe a dream home were: comfortable, cozy and spacious.
Only 15 percent of respondents said that being close to good schools is important, so I’ll go out on a limb and tout these folks as the smartest of the bunch.
As far as the dream of owning a home, 75 percent of people feel that homeownership is a lifestyle choice rather than a necessity. Twenty percent of millennial’s claim to get anxiety at the very thought of owning a home, however 60 percent of those same Millennials plan to own a home within the next 5 years. In fact, 64 percent of Americans believe they will be able to obtain their dream home in their lifetime.
What’s the listing price of the average American Dream Home? It’s a modest 1.3 million dollars.
Kind of a steep sticker-price, right?
I think so.
Well, it’s always nice to dream.
– M. Weber
