It’s certainly been a year full of change and adaption – careers, job losses, travel – or lack of- and a re-evaluation of what we want in a home.
It is a natural need in all of us to want a place to call “home”- no matter what shape or size it comes in. A home provides us with security, control, belonging, identity, and privacy. In its simplest form, it protects us from weather, and depending on where you may live, from predators.
With us all having to spend so much more time than in our homes, it is understandable that our wants for our next home have changed.
Inner city and apartment living may have lost its appeal, with no space for exercise, not enough room to work as well as live, limited, if any, outdoor area to get fresh air and feel the sun, and often a higher level of isolation. The dangers of sharing lifts, communal laundries and shared outdoor spaces, made residents fearful of contracting the virus. As they kept more to themselves, inhabitants of the highrise missed out on regular community and neighbourly interaction and connection.
As working from home, schooling from home, exercising from home, relaxing at home, eating every meal at home, became the norm, so did the increased desire for more space.
And not just any space. We are moving away from the open plan home, and moving toward those with more segregated, designated areas within the home, so that each activity can be completed in peace and, hopefully, without the family as your audience!
Quite understandably, more space tops the list of wants, but what else are buyers desiring in their next home?
The great outdoors.
Searches for properties with an outdoor area increased by 41%!
As outdoor parks were closed, and even outdoor exercise was restricted, having a backyard or simply a courtyard, became a luxury. The outdoors is called “great” for a quite a few reasons. Being outside can decrease depression, increase immunity, improves sleep, focus and makes us feel better about ourselves- and don’t we all need a good healthy dose of all those “greats”!
As gyms closed and the rise of online physical training became readily available to us all, our realisation that we could now exercise successfully in the comfort of our home became apparent. Perhaps getting tired of having to move past the barbell in the bedroom, and the running machine in the lounge, the search for homes with a gym increased by a huge 37 %.
Due to the huge number of businesses and employees preferring to keep working from home, the trend for the home office has, and will, continue to rise. The search for homes with a study increased by 31% and for those with broadband, 37%.
With the desire for room for a gym and a home office, the four to five bedroom home is becoming increasingly popular. Families and couples are moving out of the inner city areas, and further into the ‘burbs to secure the size and and space they want to accomodate their work and family needs.
Have you thought about making a move? What are your priorities when searching for your new home?
Our team at Stone can assist you with whatever your property needs, for sale and rental. Head to our website Stone Real Estate to find an office nearest you.