Priorities have evolved over the last two years regarding what Americans are looking for in their homes.
As people spend more time living, entertaining and working in their residence, the home must increasingly fulfill a variety of requirements while at the same time being a safe haven at the end of the day.
So, what are Americans looking for in a home? Let’s take a closer look at some recent facts and statistics, according to an analysis by the National Association of Realtors:
- 15% percent of buyers purchased a new home, and 85 percent of buyers purchased a previously owned home
- 42% of buyers who purchased new homes were looking to avoid renovations
- Buyers who purchased previously owned homes were most often considering a better overall value at 31%.
- Recent buyers typically purchased a home was 1,900 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, built in 1994.
- The most important factors in choosing a neighborhood were quality of the neighborhood at 59%, convenience to friends and family at 45%, and overall home affordability at 36%).
Top 5 Features That Matter to Homeowners
When looking for a home, beyond the obvious answers like space and comfort, here are some of the top features people are looking for:
1. Community and Location
Modern homeowners are looking for the ideal neighborhood as well as the ideal house. Location can contribute to the overall value of the home over time, and more immediately it affects the quality of life for the buyer.
Research says, 84% of Americans feel it is important to have a connection to their community. This is further proven by the 88% of homebuyers who are willing to give up some features of their dream home to be in a community that’s a perfect fit for their household.
2. Outdoor Living Space
There is a current shift toward a more active lifestyle, people are doing more relaxing, grilling, gardening, exercising, dining, playing with pets and children, and entertaining outside. Because of this, we are seeing an increase in the importance, use, and renovation of outdoor spaces.
In fact, 70% of professionals agree that an updated, usable outdoor living space has a big impact on overall home value. Not to mention, homeowners are usually willing to spend a quarter of their home improvement budget on outdoor living spaces.
4. Safety and Smart Home Technology
Having a house constructed for family safety and well-being is now more critical than ever. There has also been a huge uptick in smart home device sales as homeowners seek solutions to reduce energy consumption, improve security and automate household tasks.
The global smart home market is valued at almost $150 billion currently and projected to surpass $630 billion by 2032.
5. A Multi-Functional Flex Space
Having a multi-functional space has remained a feature of importance on most home-buyer bucket lists. Our homes now serve as offices, gyms, school rooms, libraries, and anything else our family might require. They are no longer just retreats that serve a single purpose but rather a place in the home where we may relax and live as we choose.
Marketing to Homeowners Across Channels
What homeowners value in their spaces continually evolves and they will seek out new features and make investments throughout the lifetime of their homeownership journey.
The home is clearly one of the biggest investments a consumer can make in their lifetime, making this an ideal audience for brands across numerous industries.
Brands that utilize an integrated and omnichannel marketing strategy will reap the most success. Multi-channel marketing strategies lead to an average of 24% more conversions.
Not to mention, 90% of customers expect consistent interactions across channels. Showing the importance of personalized, omni-channel outreach in creating a positive customer experience.
Each channel brings unique benefits:
Social Media Influencers
With 63% of shoppers who say they’re more likely to buy a product if it’s recommended to them by a social media influencer they trust, it is no surprise that influencer marketing was estimated to reach a record of 24 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. The surge in influencer marketing means brands will spend an estimated $9.29 billion on influencer-related marketing campaigns in 2025.
You can find the most significant influencers in your industry to collaborate with. By using this method, you gain the trust of all the influencer’s followers.
Email Marketing
Email has been around for decades, and it isn’t going anywhere. Like texting and social media, email is an integral part of modern-day communication. This, combined with advancements in data, personalization, and automation, makes email marketing a key component of today’s successful marketing programs.
In fact:
- Email marketing has an overall ROI of 4,200%.
- 60% of consumers reported that they have made a purchase as a result of a promotional email.
- Email marketing campaigns that are most effective include the strategies of segmentation (78%), message personalization (72%), and email automation (71%).
- When a company personalizes emails, it can increase revenue by up to 760%.
- 87% of brands said that email marketing contributes to their business’ success.
OTT and CTV
With the ability to precisely target audiences, advertisers are increasing their ad spend in OTT and CTV. According to the CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey released by Advertiser Perceptions and Premion, 66% of advertisers are shifting budgets from digital, social and linear TV to fund CTV/OTT spend increases. Additionally, 30% say that budget will come from an overall increase in ad budgets. The survey also shows that more than four in five advertisers believe that the value of Connected TV/OTT is greater than, or equal to, that of primetime TV, and two in five find the channel more valuable.
Direct Mail
Despite what some may think, direct mail is still a hugely successful channel. In fact, with more consumers conducting an increasing portion of their lives online, digital fatigue is very real from the constant Zoom meetings, online shopping sites, social media platforms, emails, and so on. So, it’s no surprise that direct mail is still a relevant tactic in 2025.
In fact, check out some of these direct mail statistics:
- Statista Market Insights data shows direct mail advertising in the United States climbed to $20.38 billion in 2024.
- In the last 12 months, 61% of marketers have increased direct mail investments.
- 42% of consumers visit the website listed on the direct mail piece. 25% of consumers purchase what was advertised.
- 67% of consumers enjoy receiving direct mail advertising.
Video
Using video is another powerful technique to sway your audience and YouTube has an incredible 2.5 billion global viewers in 2024.
The Research shows:
- 100 million people watch a video online every single day.
- 93% of marketers using video marketing in their overall marketing strategy.
- Online videos were watched by 92% of internet users.
- Weekly, people will spend 18 hours watching videos.
Programmatic Display
Programmatic continues to see momentous growth. According to eMarketer, the US digital ad market will surpass $300 billion by 2025, making up more than 75% of all media spending. Despite uncertainty over the future of third-party identifiers, programmatic will continue to gain ground as advertisers, ad tech platforms, and publishers work toward a new normal.
Retail Media Networks
Retail Media Networks are one of the most important trends we have seen in the past year. Retailers provide access to their audiences, allowing brands to advertise on their platform. Huge retail media networks include giants such as Walmart, Amazon and CVS. While consumers are shopping on the retailer’s site and are in a “ready to spend” mode, a brand’s ad appears as the consumer is browsing, and a purchase is just a few clicks away.
Homeowner Marketing Solutions
Homeowners are an incredibly lucrative audience for brands to target on numerous channels for a successful marketing strategy. Learn how to reach proprietary homeowner and mover audiences, powered by the Porch Group Media Network to help you boost the success of your customer acquisition and retention programs.
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