The pandemic has prompted homeowners to reevaluate where they call home. Sears Home Services recently surveyed about 1,000 people nationwide on how they feel about home since the pandemic and the results show a growing dissatisfaction. Forty-four percent of respondents said they are less satisfied with their home since the beginning of the pandemic.
“There’s a sense of feeling ‘trapped’ when it’s required to remain inside; we’re missing the venues we used to frequent and perhaps noticing flaws of the home while spending more time there,” the survey notes.
Households with children all living in smaller spaces are more likely to be linked to owners’ dissatisfaction. Homeowners with children were 10 percentage points more likely to say they felt less satisfied with their home than those without. Also, homeowners with only one or two bedrooms were more likely to report being unsatisfied with their homes.
The growing dissatisfaction among homeowners after being hunkered down may be a big factor behind the surging housing market. Contract signings on homes surged to a record high in August and are now 24% higher than a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 42% of respondents say it’s more difficult to find “alone time” inside their home. Seventy-nine percent of respondents admitted to telling a lie in order to just get alone time at home. People with children were more likely to tell a lie for that reason. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they used their alone time to work on a home improvement project. Studies have linked home improvement with helping people feel a sense of enjoyment and offering a boost to their mental health.
Survey respondents said the four top features they most want to add to their homes are a home gym (41%), home office (37%), gaming space (32%), and kitchen space (31%).
“The more time you spend with something, the more you get to know it,” the survey notes. “With much of the world spending a highly unusual amount of time at home, we’re finding the things we want to improve but also benefiting more from those improvements.”
Source: “Making a House a Home in the Time of COVID-19,” Sears Home Services (September 2020)
