Millennials make up much of today’s buyers, meaning their preferences are important for builders to take into account. Aged between late 20s to 40, many Millennials are starting families and looking to purchase a starter home, and one of this age goup’s strongest preferences is a home that supports wellness, says Forbes. A recent survey by Green Builder Media found the Millennial generation spends more money on buying and remodeling homes than any other audience segment. While younger Millennials have a median home purchase price of $250,000, older Millennials purchase homes between $300,000 to $400,000.
Millennial Mindset
What do these buyers want when it comes to their homes? “For millennials, wellness is a daily active pursuit,” Monitoring the Future shared in a Goldman Sachs-quoted infographic. Goldman Sachs concluded that “Their active lifestyle influences trends in everything.” That would certainly include their housing preferences, and the CDS study bears that out.
“Respondents ranked happiness first. Protecting the environment and health/wellness were tied for second,” the researchers noted. In their home-buying decisions, neighborhood quality and safety ranked highest for millennials and healthy homes ranked closely below, followed by closeness to open space, walking trails and activities, all of which point to the health potential of communities.
Sustainability Nexus
Millennials’ interest in health extends to an interest in creating a healthier planet. The CDS report shares their preferences for gardening, composting, and cooking organically; all three blend wellness and sustainability.
This tracks with reports of agrihoods’ growing popularity. “The idea of agrihoods was created long ago, when people lived off the land and relied on each other for sustenance, happiness and well-being,” observed Builder and Developer in a recent article on their resurgent appeal. “Now that COVID-19 has created more fear about living in denser places, it is likely that the pressure to live in the countryside will remain.”
These hybrid farming-suburban developments also speak to millennials’ desire to live more sustainably and a growing ability to work away from an office complex.