We say it all the time: Today’s homeowner is more tech-savvy than those of the past. And we have the numbers to prove it. Roughly 37% of U.S. internet households own a smart-home device, with each owning an average of eight devices. Such devices include smart video doorbells, smart light bulbs, smart thermostats, smart smoke/CO detectors, smart door locks, smart plugs, smart garage door openers, and more.
This is all according to a recent survey by Parks Associates, which studies home habits. One interesting part of the survey answers the question: What does move-in ready mean for a homebuyer? The answer is for many it means that the home does not require upgrades or repairs. Often, but not always, it is new construction. Further, a move-in ready house has updated heating and cooling, an updated kitchen and bathrooms, new appliances, and smart-home technology.
One of the newest trends prevalent in this report is the rise of health at home, which includes technology for senior living, telehealth, environmental quality and safety, and at-home fitness and wellness, just to name a few.
This comes at a good time, as 67% of people surveyed have at least one chronic condition, with 44% being lifestyle diseases, 31% being anxiety, depression, or sleep disorders, and 13% having type I or type II diabetes.
In fact, more than 50% of U.S. households have a connected health device, which can include a smart watch, fitness tracker, pedometer, heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, weight scale, glucometer, pulse oximeter, wearable GPS tracker, and more.
This trend could continue to rise, as roughly 89% of people with a health-related condition live in their home or the home of a relative or caregiver, and 21% of those caregivers bought a solution to monitor their loved one’s health.
As it turns out, the healthy home is one of the top selling features today—which can include healthy temperature control, water purification systems, zoned HVAC, healthy lighting, and more. Many of these we have covered right here on this blog.
Looking beyond health, some of the most important value-added features in single-family production homes include high efficiency features, adaptive floor plans for flexible use, smart-home technology, indoor air quality features, sustainable building materials, and walkable community amenities.
So, I pose this question to you: Do you agree with the findings? Do you own at least eight smart devices that you need and want? With the onslaught of COVID-19, is a healthy home a growing topic for you and your community? Or are we all getting pushed into believing that these types of features in our homes are critical? Branding is a powerful thing, we all agree. So again, I ask, are you beginning to recognize the value and importance of such technology, or not? Your opinion is the only thing that matters to this journalist and my team. Post your thoughts on Twitter or LinkedIn or on our webpage.
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