Pulte Survey Shows Little Interest in Downsizing

Bloomfield Hills, MI, Dec. 19, 2012 -- Homeowners overwhelmingly want their next home to be the same size or larger than their current home, according to a recent survey by national homebuilder PulteGroup, Inc.

"It was interesting to see that 84% of homeowners ages 18-59 don't have plans to downsize their next home, even among baby boomers," said Deborah Meyer, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of PulteGroup.

"The PGHI survey results also show that today's buyers are equally focused on smarter use of the spaces within their homes."

Further proof that increased house size is on the rise comes from recent U.S. Census Bureau data which indicates the average size of a newly built home was 2,480 square feet in 2011, which is an increase of 3.7% from 2010. This represents the first annual increase since 2007.

More than half of homeowners between the ages of 18-34, would like their next home to be larger than their current home with 68% of those respondents saying the larger home would be used to accommodate their growing family.

Meanwhile, nearly 40% of respondents ages 35-54 want a larger home to accommodate a growing family (37%) and need more room and storage space (29%).

Only 28% of those ages 55-59 said they want their next home to be smaller, citing retirement and becoming an empty nester as the top reasons for downsizing.

According to the survey, 21% of homeowners ages 18-59 rarely use their formal dining room while 17% said they rarely use their formal living room. When asked to rank the most important feature in their next home, nearly half (48%) of respondents want larger, open spaces, including master bedrooms, larger rooms and open floor concepts.