Chicago real estate, living and neighborhood perspective

Satisfied Majority

Sherwin Sucaldito, @properties Sales & Marketing

Are most homeowners satisfied with their home?  The past few years of the housing boom had many residents upgrading their homes in quick intervals, upgrading into larger housing accommodations, newer finishes and more expensive neighborhoods.  A 2009 survey of home owners conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that most of them are satisfied with their residences. About 70 percent of respondents rated their homes an 8, 9, or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 28 percent giving them the “best” rating of 10. Residents of new construction tend to rate their homes even more highly: 84 percent gave them between an 8 and 10, and 45 percent gave a perfect 10 rating.

Likewise, more than 68 percent of residents rated their neighborhoods highly, with 25 percent giving it a “best” rating. People living in newly built homes rate their neighborhoods especially highly: 75 percent rated their neighborhoods highly and 35 percent said their neighborhoods were 10s.

The nation’s home owners paid a median of $1,000 in monthly housing costs in 2009, compared with $808 for renters, according to the findings.

Other highlights for the nearly 112 million occupied housing units:

• The median purchase price of homes was $107,500; for a newly constructed home, it was $240,000.

• Thirty-two percent of owner-occupied units were owned free and clear, 66 percent had a regular and/or home equity mortgage and 2 percent had only a line of credit.

• The most important consideration for recent movers in choosing their homes was financial (28 percent), followed by room layout/design (15 percent) and size of home (10 percent).

• The most common reasons recent movers had for choosing their neighborhoods were convenience to job (20 percent), convenience to friends or relatives (14 percent), look/design of neighborhood (10 percent), and the house itself (10 percent).

• About two-thirds (64 percent) of the units used a warm-air furnace for heating; 12 percent used an electric heat pump; and 11 percent used a steam or hot-water system. The latter is increasingly falling out of use as only 2 percent of new units use this system.

• About half of homes (48 percent) had a separate dining room and three in 10 (30 percent) reported two or more living rooms or recreation rooms. About one-third (35 percent) had a usable fireplace.

• About two-thirds of housing units (65 percent) had central air conditioning and another 21 percent had window units; for new units, the percentage with central air conditioning was even higher (89 percent).

• About 93 percent reported the presence of a smoke detector. Additionally, 36 percent reported having a working carbon monoxide detector, 45 percent purchased or recharged a fire extinguisher in the last two years and 5 percent had a sprinkler system.

• Most homes had three or more bedrooms (64 percent), with the percentage even higher in new homes (80 percent). Additionally, about half of homes (51 percent) had two or more bathrooms, with the percentage even higher (89 percent) in new homes.

• Ten percent of communities had secured entrances, with the likelihood somewhat higher (15 percent) in new communities.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (08/19/2010)

Sherwin is a REALTOR® in the Chicago & Suburban area with @properties. Questions can be forwarded to Sherwin Sucaldito

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“Satisfied Majority” by Sherwin Sucaldito is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at Realty Evolved with data from the US Census Bureau.

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