Dec. 20, 2007 - Survey says...

Home ownership tops with students

With the dramatic, repetitive and negative news reporting on the American housing market here comes some good news from RisMedia’s writer, Eugene L. Meyer.  Mr. Myers reports that a recent back-to-college survey of college students shows owning a home is a top priority among this group.  The survey was comprised of 34 questions, conducted August 2007 and included 1,000 students confirmed by their (.edu) e-mail addresses.

Myers writes, “The desire to become homeowners may be nurtured by their current living arrangements. Fifty-seven percent lived in an apartment during college, with or without roommates, while only 11% lived in a school dormitory room.”   

No doubt, TV programs such as Designed to Sell, Flip this House, Design on a Dime and other HGTV home shows spotlighting home ownership also have had a strong influence on this demographic sector.  What's surprising is that for 41% of the men and 49% of the women, home ownership outranked the desire for other material possessions such as a car or clothes.  These figures are up from 22.6 % reported in a 2005 survey.  Not surprising, more young women than young men want to own their own home.

Also, data for Generation X (those born between 1963 and 1978) shows they are purchasing and/or remodeling homes at an earlier stage in life than previous generations.  Further, there is a segment of these homeowners who've purchased more than one primary residence.

The survey also focused on the online social networking habits of this younger generation.  FaceBook is the top choice for both sexes; followed by MySpace for women and ESPN for men.  It was further determined that social networking is twice a popular for women than for men.

My challenge, now, is to better connect in a meaningful way to this group of potential home buyers and sellers.  I accept it with excitement and fervor.  Somerset has a very diverse housing stock.  Paraphrasing Century 21 President and CEO Tom Kunz, there are homes being sold in our immediate market and behind every transaction is a consumer success story. Game On!