Lifestyle improvement has emerged as the main motivator for renters looking for new spaces a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a new survey from RentCafé. Back in March 2020, the top renter preference centered around pricing.
In the latest survey, 41% of renters chose “open-air amenities” and “more space” as their most essential apartment features, outranking work-from-home amenities like a home office (5%) or a “good internet connection” (10%), according to the survey of 10,000 aspiring renters.
Forty-eight percent of survey respondents also say they prefer to remain in the same city. “This shows that improving housing conditions—not drastic change—is the goal,” the researchers note.
Many of the moves from the early days of the pandemic were motivated by expiring leases or financial insecurity. But those concerns do not appear to be triggering the majority of moves nowadays, the survey shows.
Source: “One Year Later: Pandemic Shifts Renters’ Priorities as ‘More Space’ Beats ‘Cheaper’, Survey Shows,” RentCafe.com (March 9, 2021)
