Survey: Older Americans want country homes

Older homebuyers want their future houses to be in the country with high-speed Internet access, large medicine cabinets, first-floor master bedrooms and in-house washers and dryers. Or so says the results of survey by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the MetLife Mature Market Institute.
In a survey of Americans 55 and older, researchers found sometimes counter-intuitive desires and a lack of interest in “universal” design that incorporates elements such as push-down door handles, wide hallways and full baths on the ground floor. Builders have generally been providing houses with such elements, but consumers indicate they want amenities such as non-slip floors, lower kitchen cabinets and emergency call buttons.
“The data suggests that builders will have to be more tuned in to consumer needs, but potential buyers may be somewhat shortsighted as well,” said Sandra Timmermann, director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. “The homes consumers say they want may present difficulties for the long term as they age in place. They prefer the suburbs and the country, but these areas generally lack public transportation. Universal design is not a strong preference, but they’ll need greater accessibility later on. Aside from recognizing that one-story homes will be best for their later years, customers may be somewhat unrealistic.”
Other highlights of the study, according to a news release:
• One-third of consumer respondents would choose a close-in suburb and nearly another third prefer an outlying suburb. About one-quarter would choose a rural community and 9 percent prefer a center-city setting. Single-story homes are a clear first choice among respondents (79 percent) over two-story (15 percent) or split-levels (6 percent)
• While conventional wisdom dictates that older buyers would be looking to downsize, most consumers say they want their next home to be the same size as their current one.
• Eighty-three percent of consumer respondents rated high-speed Internet as somewhat to very important.
• While consumers expressed a preference for maintenance-free lifestyles, with services such as interior and exterior home repair, transportation, housecleaning, etc., few builders offer such services, which depart from their primary business of construction.
• Twenty-seven percent of potential buyers say they are not concerned about the impact of home building on the environment. Another 23 percent are concerned, but say that will not be a consideration when they make a purchase, and 37 percent of consumers responded that want an “environment-friendly” home, but would not pay extra for it. Only 12 percent said they would be willing to pay more.
The full research and accompanying data chart books are available at www.MatureMarketInstitute.com.