Heads up when doing reno's - today's homebuyer preferences

Homebuyers are willing to trade yesterday's once-popular home theatres or media rooms for a more practical space to accommodate a home office or study.

That's just one of the findings of a recent annual consumer survey of North American homebuyer preferences.

The survey, conducted by AVID Ratings Company, identifies "must have" and "really want" features in new homes across a number of buyer groups, such as first-time buyers, move-up buyers who are seeking larger and/or better homes, and empty nesters -- those semi-retirees or retirees seeking age-restricted housing developments.

The survey was conducted in the fall of 2009 and involved over 22,000 homeowners who had previously bought or built a home within the last nine years in U.S. and Canada.

In Canada, over 12,000 people from B.C., Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick were surveyed.

It found that more than double the number of first-time buyers and move-up buyers opted for the home office or study space rather than a home theatre or movie room on their list of design preferences.

This shift in consumer choice could be attributable to a couple of factors.

One might be the rapid improvements in personal multimedia technology. Some consumer surveys suggest more Canadians are viewing movies and broadcast programming on computers than on televisions. The recent economic downturn might be another factor driving this shift, as homebuyers are perhaps thinking more about making money than spending it on big-ticket items such as home theatre systems.

Large kitchens with a work island are near the top of the shortlist of "must" features in new homes, according to the survey.

Homebuyers would also rather have a large kitchen than a formal dining room. Less than 60 per cent of Canadian homebuyers surveyed rated a formal dining room as a "must have" or "really want" feature. Barely a third of those surveyed in the U.S. rated the dining room as a "must-have" or "really want".

Canadian buyers have divergent preferences when it comes to buying a new home and Americans seem to have set their sights lower than Canadian homebuyers.

For example, about a third of U.S. buyers want brick exteriors on their new homes. About two-thirds of Canadian buyers rate this feature as a "musthave" or "really want". Canadian buyers also seem to want to live in more manicured developments and have children's playgrounds close by, while 10 to 20 per cent fewer of their U.S. counterparts rate these amenities as a "musthave" or "really want" neighbourhood feature.

The automobile still dominates in the U.S., with all three categories of buyers south of the border rating a three-car garage higher on their list of features than Canadian buyers. In fact, when it comes to the empty nesters, almost double the number of Americans, more than 40 per cent, rate a three-car garage as a "must-have" or a "really want" in a new home.

Americans also seem to want to have a constant breeze blowing in their homes, with two-thirds demanding ceiling fans in a new home, where barely 20 per cent of Canadian buyers rate this feature as a "musthave" or "really want".

Older Americans apparently like to cook outdoors, with 40 per cent of U.S. empty nesters rating an outdoor cooking area as a "must-have" or "really want". Half the number of Canadians seem to want to escape the stale air of their homes to deep-fry their turkeys.

More Americans than Canadians seem to be thinking about aging in place in their homes, with a majority of buyers rating main-floor master suites high on their list of design features -- close to 80 per cent among U.S. empty nesters. Barely more than a half of Canada's empty nesters demand this feature and only a third of Canadian buyers in other categories.

Finally, ecological performance and environmental sustainability features aren't rating particularly high on either side of the border. Around two-thirds of buyers rate energy-efficient appliances as a "must-have", but the use of recycled materials is only borderline desirable, and less so in Canada than the U.S.

Clearly, this study indicates new homebuyers in Canada and the U.S. are looking for homes that are practical, functional and supportive of their current lifestyles, while still offering a range of affordable creature comforts.

("Study, home office growing in popularity, survey discovers" prepared by Bob Ransford/Vancouver Sun)