The 50/50 Split: When and How New Construction Buyers Part Ways

Many things happen at 50: Your birthday celebration is gold themed, you start to get offers for senior discounts, and comfort becomes your number one priority when buying a home. Every home shopper has their unique wants and needs, but the Zillow Group New Construction Consumer Housing Trends Report 2018 reveals that once they reach age 50, new construction home buyers start to notably differ from buyers under 50 in how they search for a home.

After poring over vaults of Zillow data, we identified the most significant differences between new construction home buyers over 50 and their younger counterparts.

How different generations search for home

Three in four new construction buyers (76%) search online for a new home, but younger generations are more likely to use this resource: 83% of new construction buyers under 50 search online compared to 63% of buyers over 50.

New construction buyers also use a wide variety of offline resources, and age differences often dictate their favorites. Nearly half (49%) of these buyers who are under 50 ask a friend, relative or neighbor for advice during their home search, but less than a quarter (23%) of new construction buyers over 50 do the same. Since new construction buyers are more likely to be repeat buyers (71%), the older set might have more confidence in their home-buying expertise than younger buyers who might be making their first home purchase.

What home looks like

Most new construction buyers under 50 (86%) are more likely to want to buy a single-family house than new construction buyers who are at least 50 years old (76%). New construction buyers under 50 (83%) are also more likely to end up purchasing a single-family house compared to 71% of new construction buyers over 50. It may be due to their age that older new construction buyers might be more open to other options such as a townhome, condo or co-op.

What they want

Comfort is top of mind for new construction buyers over 50. Most (86%) new construction buyers over 50 say a floor plan or layout that fits their preferences is very or extremely important in their decision about which home to buy, and this was also the case for about three-quarters (77%) of new construction buyers under 50.

Most (89%) older new construction buyers say having their preferred number of bedrooms is very or extremely important compared to 79% of new construction buyers under 50. Older new construction buyers are also less willing to budge on their preferred number of bathrooms — 85% of these buyers think it’s highly important for their home, compared to 71% of new construction buyers under 50.

A home in a safe neighborhood and in their preferred location is very or extremely important to the vast majority of new construction buyers (88%), but those under 50 are more likely to attach a higher importance on the home being in a walkable neighborhood (64%) as compared to older buyers (49%).

The same goes for their commute to work or school: 2 in 3 (66%) of new construction buyers under 50 say it’s very or extremely important. That’s significantly more than the 24% of new construction buyers over 50 who attach the same importance — perhaps because many of these older buyers no longer punch a clock.

Older new construction buyers are also less interested in seeing their home as a revenue-generating investment than new construction buyers under 50. Most (80%) new construction buyers over 50 say the opportunity to rent out the entire home in the future to produce rental income was not at all or not very important, but only 57% of new construction buyers under 50 say the same. This may be due to older new construction buyers considering the purchase to be their retirement or “forever” home.

How they pay for it

The majority (61%) of new construction buyers who are 50 and older put down at least 20% for their new home, but less than half (46%) of younger new construction buyers (under 50) put down the same. New construction buyers may be able to pay larger down payments due to the fact that they are more likely to be repeat buyers who are also selling a home; the sale of a previous home comprises 43% of the average down payment from new construction buyers over 50. The biggest contributor (46% on average) to down payments from new construction buyers under 50 is money they saved over time.

Fifty may be the new 30 when it comes to feeling young at heart but not when it comes to new construction home buyers. They’re choosing homes that will accommodate today’s wants but tomorrow’s needs too. And they have the buying know-how and financing to get it.