Childless buyers are changing the real estate market

The single-family real estate market is experiencing a shift as more adults choose to not have kids, and the effects are numerous. Wanting a smaller space is part of the trend, and so too is a change in desirable home destinations, according to The Washington Post.

People without children tend to prefer urban areas, according to the 2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Childless buyers said factors like convenience to friends, family, shopping and entertainment, swayed their neighborhood choice.

The trend can mean an uptick in demand for townhouses and condos in urban areas. Hand-in-hand, the increased costs of construction and land shortages point to a desire to build tall and not necessarily large.

“In certain markets where you’re going to have an increase in the number of childless households, that does mean that maybe townhouse construction is a greater option than, say, homes that are approximately 3,000-square-foot, single-family detached,” Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, told the Post. Dietz adds people generally look for 800 square feet of home per person in the household.

In 2015 more than 70 percent of households had no children living there, up from 68 percent in 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey. Fertility rates in the United States are also low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data shows the fertility rate last year was 62 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44. [WaPo] – Amanda Rabines