Redfin: House Hunters Prioritize Health, Security

(Image courtesy of Tim Mossholder/pexels.com)

Just a couple weeks after significant wildfire smoke from Canada blanketed large swaths of the U.S., Redfin, Seattle, released a new study showing that 36% of house hunters say a “clean” home with features like high-end filtration systems for air and water is on their most-wanted listed.

Despite the recent smoke influx, this survey was conducted in May–indicating that these are ongoing concerns.

“As wildfire smoke becomes more common, filtered indoor air is becoming a must-have rather than a nice-to-have,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “Homebuyers are already looking for homes that can protect their families during smoke events. And I expect that in the near future, buyers searching for single-family homes will also be looking for larger homes with versatile indoor space, where they can entertain themselves when smoke forces them inside. House hunters looking for condos may prioritize indoor amenity spaces, like gyms or event rooms.”

Clean air/home concerns were nearly tied with the most-wanted feature: a security system, at 38%.

A distant third is a good view (at 25%), followed by smart-home technology (20%), backup power generation (19%), a good layout for entertaining (17%) and a covered outdoor patio (17%).

Broken down by generation, millennials, at 37%, put “clean” homes at No. 1, tied with security systems. Forty percent of Gen Zers listed a “clean” home, but that was still below security systems, at 42%.

Gen Xers also had security systems at No. 1, at 32%, followed by the “clean” home features at 25%. Baby boomers rank views at the top of the list, with 47%, but security systems were at 40% and “clean” homes were at 35%.