The Differing Wants of Younger and Older Buyers

Posted by Amanda Hicks

Updated on April 10th, 2018

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Published in Real Estate 101

Rising rent costs are pushing millennials to purchase homes and their wants are much different than the 55+ aged buyers who are house hunting too,

Chief economist for realtor.com, Danielle Hale, says they've found a clear difference in priorities based on recent surveys. "Older buyers are concerned with privacy and being able to age comfortably," she said "while millennials place more emphasis on family needs, stability and personal expression."

A survey of more than 1,000 active buyers done last week by Toluna Research provides insight into what both millennial (18-34 year olds) and older buyers are looking for:

Older buyers are focused on privacy while millennials place family and personal needs at the top of their wants. The majority of 55+ buyers said privacy was their main goal followed by physical comfort and stability. Millennial goals are family needs, stability, and personal expression- only 12% said privacy was a priority for them. 

As far as style, millennials favor contemporary and colonial-style homes while older buyers picked ranches. About 1/3 of older buyers favored ranch-style homes while only 6% of millennials agreed. 

There were some commonalities among the majority of respondents; 93% said their home needed at least 2 bathrooms, 44% said they wanted a 3 bedroom home, and a garage, updated kitchen and open floor plan were also features agreed upon my most buyers. 

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