The recent NAHB study, What Home Buyers Really Want, 2021 Edition, asked first-time buyers to rate more than 200 home and community features using a four-tier scale: essential, desirable, indifferent and do not want.
The chart below shows the 10 “most wanted” features for first-time homebuyers, based on the percentage of buyers rating a feature either desirable or essential.
The list of features most wanted by first-time buyers is similar to the list for home buyers in general. A laundry room, for example, is No. 1 on both lists. The ratings of many features tend to be positively correlated with income, and first-time buyers have a median income of $65,000, compared to $79,000 for home buyers in general.
The most noticeable difference between the features most wanted by first-time buyers and buyers in general, however, is the absence of energy-saving features or Energy Star products. on the first-time buyers’ top 10 list. Missing from the list is a front porch feature that was on the general buyers’ Top 10 list.
On the other hand, drinking water filtration, security cameras and a kitchen table for eating failed to make the top 10 list for buyers in general.
