Traditional Home Styles Are Making a Comeback
NAHB’s new book, “What Home buyers Realy Want, 2021 Edition” sheds light on the housing preferences of the typical home buyer, but also on how those preferences change over time, and how they may vary based on demographic factors such as age, income, and geography. The study is based on a comprehensive, nationwide survey of 3,247 recent and prospective home buyers conducted in the summer of 2020.
One point of interest in the book is a new question introduced to the 2021 edition. After showing buyers pictures and descriptions of four exterior designs and asking for their preferences, results reveal that buyers have quite diverse preferences for the exterior style of their home, since none of the choices was preferred by anywhere near a majority of buyers, NAHB reports.
The NAHB analysis cites, “At best, a traditional home (rooted in historic styles) was the preferred exterior design of 32% of home buyers.” A traditional home was the first of buyers (30% to 45%) in 8 of the 9 geographic divisions where the survey was conducted. The only exception is the Pacific division, where a contemporary design is the first preference. This information doesn’t surprise the builders of the Savvy Idea Home, now under construction who chose a more traditional French country inspired design for the new home being constructed in the Midway Hollow neighborhood in Dallas.
