Statistics are fun. This week we’re looking at American preferences for their living quarters, and you may find the results a bit startling.
First, the homeownership rate. Our research tells us that the rate of Americans who own their homes is somewhere between 56 percent and 67 percent, with different surveys quoting slightly different rates. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, the rate of ownership is 65 percent, with renters at 35 percent. This concurs with the rate listed at statisticbrain.com, which claims the 2013 rate at 64.5 percent. This is an average of all Americans, with ethnic groups varying a bit (whites with a high of almost 75 percent and African Americans at a low of 46 percent). The rates in Europe are quoted too: Germany has a homeownership rate of 42 percent, France at 55 percent, the U.K. at 69 percent and Spain at a high of 85 percent. Interesting statistics as you would not imagine affluent Germany to have a rate half that of economically disadvantaged Spain, but so be it.
In spite of all the clamor about high rise buildings, condominiums and apartment living in general, the truth is that Americans prefer the single family house above all. Seven in 10 Americans live in a single family house, and 80 percent express that preference. Apartments and condos are occupied by 17 percent of Americans, but preferred only by 8 percent. What does this tell us?
If you’re a builder of single family houses, future prospects look good, especially for buyers under 30. Of the 35 percent of Americans who currently rent, 17 percent of them are under 30, and of those, 70 percent of them are planning to buy a home in the next 10 years.
What is this pool of potential homeowners looking for? The writer Witold Rybczynski in his brief history of the home says the most important factor is culture. Before the 17th century, people lived and worked in the same place and families were extended, with servants and employees occupying the family residence. With industrialization came the separate family residence and the prevalence of the nuclear family; the home became a haven then for just the immediate family and the single family residence was born.
Single family homes come in several varieties. You have the free-standing or detached house, the house sharing a common wall with its neighbor (twin home), as a townhouse or row house, and a house with an inner courtyard, the latter popular in Mediterranean styles. What’s most desired?
Detachment is preferred by most people who quote the desire for privacy as their reason. Though urban density requires that city dwellers choose apartments, a home away from prying eyes and ears is the No. 1 choice of about 80 percent of Americans. Taking this even one step further, I found a statistic that claimed that if they had their druthers, a majority (53 percent) of people would prefer to live “away from it all” rather than in the “center of it all” (34 percent).
So there you have it. In the 21st century when the nuclear family is so alive and well that it even includes grown adult children, families crave their own little world, set apart from neighbors. The yen for peace, quiet and privacy will drive the real estate market in years to come. Sellers and builders rejoice!
Del Phillips is a California Licensed Real Estate agent. He is a member of the National, California and San Diego Association of Realtors. You can reach Del at Ascent Real Estate at 619-298-6666 or at Del@DelPhillips.com DRE LIC #01267333.
