Builder Magazine
By Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki
What impact does a public health pandemic have on new-home demand? The America at Home Study, conducted online in April of 3,001 consumers 25 to 74 years old with household incomes of $50,000 plus, asked renters whether COVID-19 has made them more or less likely to want to own versus rent a home. Almost half (46%) of current renters say they would now prefer to own versus rent, potentially representing 7.4 million households in the U.S. The majority of them are younger (millennials and Gen X groups combined), ranging in age from 25 to 44. This is a sizable shift since the NAHB’s first quarter 2020 Housing Trends Report indicated just 16% of millennials were looking to make their first home purchase in the next year.