RCLCO 2024 Owner Consumer Preferences Survey Report

In the wake of increasing affordability challenges and other barriers to homeownership, there is continued strong support for new for-sale housing developments. The consumer research data included in RCLCO’s 2024 Owner Consumer Preferences Report is intended to provide insights regarding who buyers are and what they are looking for in their future homes. In a highly competitive marketplace, the most successful investors, developers, and operators will be those who truly understand consumer preferences. With that in mind, the report discusses the preferences of owner households to provide insights for those planning, investing in, developing, and/or managing America’s for-sale housing.

While other surveys focus on past transactions from past home buyers, RCLCO’s survey balanced both buyers from the past two years and those looking to purchase in the next three years, with the intention to better understand preferences and trade-offs. RCLCO specifically focused on respondents from the most active and largest for-sale residential MSAs located in the Sunbelt.

Homeownership is a common goal for many U.S. households, and today around 65% of them are owners. With Millennials now comprising half of recent homebuyers and entering their prime family years, owner preferences are shifting. Simultaneously, empty nesters and retirees are reevaluating their housing needs. Amid rising affordability challenges, all buyers are reassessing trade-offs for their first or next home. Understanding these evolving preferences is essential to delivering housing that meets buyers’ needs while balancing affordability. This survey intends to help infer decisions about location, community type, amenities, and home design choices.

This research report by RCLCO provides an in-depth look at preferences and motivations overall, as well as for three key demographic groups: professionals, families, and empty nesters/retirees.

Sample Report Spreads

This 42-page report offers an overview of the for-sale market and the shifting consumer preferences of this population, including:

• Key motivations driving homeownership decisions, highlighting the most sought-after settings and housing configurations across different buyer profiles
• Primary barriers to homeownership, including affordability and access to financing, and an analysis of how financing options vary by demographic segment
• The amenities and home features that resonate most with buyers—and the specific features they are willing to pay a premium for
• Commonalities and differences in decision-making priorities among professionals, families, and empty nesters/retirees, offering insights into household-specific preferences
• The tradeoffs buyers are prepared to make, spanning property types, amenities, locations, and considerations like home size and finishes

…and more

5 Featured Findings

1. Preferred Home Size and Design: Buyers are generally seeking three- or four-bedroom homes between 1,500 and 3,000 square feet, depending on their needs, indicating a willingness among some buyers to purchase smaller homes with efficient designs. While most respondents’ current homes align with their future bedroom preferences, many Millennials who currently live in smaller-sized homes (< 1,500 square feet) aspire to larger spaces. Some demographic segments exhibit greater disparities between their current home design and future preferences.

2. Community Amenities Matter: Respondents primarily desire fitness centers, trails, and lounge pools in their communities. However, additional amenity preferences vary slightly by household segment and location, reflecting differences in lifestyle and priorities.

3. Buyers Weigh Lifestyle, Home, and Location Factors: RCLCO identified three overarching categories of motivations for purchasing a new home, which were ranked by importance to respondents. Buyers are primarily driven to purchase a new home due to lifestyle changes, such as starting a family, and specific home preferences, like wanting a yard, while locational considerations, such as proximity to work or family, are less influential. Within each category, specific motivations were identified and ranked, revealing slight variations in priority across different household segments.

4. Affordability and Interest Rates Are Major Barriers: Interest rates are cited as the primary obstacle to homeownership, with other barriers including a lack of quality housing options and insufficient down payment savings. Buyers remain focused on affordability as they work toward achieving homeownership.

5. Trade-Offs Are Common to Achieve Homeownership: Buyers are often willing to compromise on factors like home size, lot size, and garage configuration (e.g., opting for 1-car or tandem garages) to achieve homeownership. Additionally, many respondents would consider townhomes or condominiums as viable alternatives.