SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2012 – Trulia today released the results of its American Dream survey, which has tracked American attitudes towards homeownership since 2008. Harris Interactive conducted this online survey on behalf of Trulia among 2,205 U.S. adults, age 18 and over, between May 22 – 24 and among 2,230 U.S. adults, age 18 and older, between June 4-6, 2012.
KEY FINDINGS:
Optimism Runs Ahead of Housing Market Reality: With prices rising quarter over quarter in 86 of the 100 largest U.S. metros in May, according to the Trulia Price Monitor, it’s not surprising that nearly two-thirds (61 percent) of Americans believe home prices in their local market will rise in the next year. However, American’s hope for a real estate market bounce-back may be too high. Even though prices in many markets reached unprecedented and unsustainable levels during the boom, 58 percent of Americans believe home prices in their local markets will return to their previous high in the next 10 years.
Return of Super-Sized Homes: After veering away from super-sized homes throughout the recession, Americans are yet again attracted to the idea of bigger homes. According to the survey, more than 1 in 4 (27 percent) Americans who believe home ownership is part of achieving their personal American Dream said that their ideal home size is over 2,600 square feet – up from 17 percent in 2011. In fact, interest in homes of more than 3,200 square feet nearly doubled in the last year from 6 percent in 2011 to 11 percent in 2012.
Starter Home Reality Check: Homeownership remains central to the American Dream. In fact, 72 percent said owning a home is part of achieving their personal American Dream. Among renters, 78 percent—many of whom may be first-time homebuyers—aspire to buy a home at some point in the future. However, most have unrealistic expectations about their prospective starter home. When surveying renters on what amenities would make them fall in love with a home if they were in the market for a home today, the top amenities were a master bathroom (62 percent), walk-in closet (56 percent) and gourmet kitchen (50 percent)[2]. However, there is a clear disconnect between what renters want and the reality of what actual homeowners said they had in their first home. Only 26 percent of homeowners said that they had an en-suite master bathroom in their first home, while just 35 percent had a walk-in closet and 9 percent had a gourmet kitchen.
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Real Estate Expectations vs. Reality: Hard Pill to Swallow |
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Amenity |
Renter Dreams2 |
First-Time Homeowner Realities |
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En-suite master bathroom |
62% |
26% |
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Walk-in closet |
56% |
35% |
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Gourmet kitchen |
50% |
9% |
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Outdoor deck |
50% |
28% |
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Wood floors |
47% |
35% |
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Pre-wired entertainment system |
31% |
7% |
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Pool |
24% |
10% |
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Hot tub |
22% |
6% |
PRE-APPROVED QUOTES
o “After years of broken housing dreams, it’s refreshing to see people voicing some optimism,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “But looking at our survey findings, the pendulum may have swung a little too far. Prices have started to turn around in most markets, but that doesn’t mean they’ll return to their pre-bubble highs in the next decade.”
o “Most people in markets that had the biggest price bubbles – like Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Detroit — expect local home prices to get back up to their previous highs in the next decade,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Although optimism helps the housing recovery, this much optimism about house prices could put us right back on the path to the next housing bubble.”
o “As the economy recovers, people are dreaming bigger, but most won’t realize their dreams anytime soon,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Few homebuyers – and even fewer first-timers – can afford 3,000 square feet and a gourmet kitchen. Buyers need to take a hard look at what they can actually afford, and give themselves some cushion in case a Euro crisis or federal budget battle pushes us back into recession.”
MULTIMEDIA
- To listen to a replay of Trulia’s Chief Economist Jed Kolko discussing the results of the survey and other insights into the real estate market (available after 9/21), click here.
- To download Jed’s presentation of the survey findings, click here.
- To download an infographic on the growing demand for super-sized homes, click here
SURVEY METHODOLOGY
The May-June 2012 survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive via its QuickQuery omnibus product on behalf of Trulia between May 22 -24 among 2,205 U.S. adults, of whom 1,402 were homeowners and 731 were renters and June 4-6, 2012 among 2,230 U.S. adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 1,486 were homeowners and 693 were renters.
The August 2011 survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive via its QuickQuery omnibus product on behalf of Trulia between Aug 30-Sept 1, 2011 among 2,207 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 1,392 were homeowners and 758 were renters.
The January 2012 survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive via its Quick Query omnibus product on behalf of Trulia between January 30- February 2, 2012 among 2,236 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 1,486 were homeowners and 693 were renters.
Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. These online surveys are not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodologies, including weighting variables, please contact pr@trulia.com.
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