NAHB study reveals top kitchen and bathroom features influencing home buyers; walk-in pantry, eating space top list with 80% rating as essential or desirable

In the most recent NAHB research on home buyer preferences, What Home Buyers Really Want Study¹, consumers were asked to rate how 28 kitchen and 18 bathroom features would influence their home purchase decision, if at all, using the following four-point scale:

• Do not want – not likely to buy a home with this design or feature.
• Indifferent – wouldn’t influence decision.
• Desirable – would be seriously influenced to purchase a home because this design or feature was included.
• Essential/Must-have – unlikely to purchase a home without this design or feature.

Kitchen

Eighty percent of respondents rated a walk-in pantry and table space for eating as either essential/must-have or desirable, followed by a double sink (78%), drinking water filtration (75%), pull-out shelves and a central island (both at 74%), and a granite or natural stone countertop (73%).  Overall, home buyers want to have kitchens with lots of amenities: of the 28 kitchen features, 21 were essential or desirable to at least 50% of buyers.  A walk-in pantry has been at least tied for the top-rated kitchen feature in every iteration of the survey (Figure 1).

Bathroom

Similar to kitchens, home buyers are looking for bathrooms with lots of amenities, with 14 of the 18 features rated as either essential/must-have or desirable by 50% or more respondents.  The results show an emphasis on the primary bath, with the top three highest rated bathroom features being listed for this area: both a shower & tub (78%), a linen closet (76%), and a private toilet compartment (70%).  Both a shower stall & tub, as well as a linen closet, have been the top two rated bathroom features by home buyers in every iteration of the survey (Figure 2).

Like the other areas of the home covered in this study, every question on kitchens and bathrooms is tabulated by the buyer’s income, age, geography, race, household type, and the price they expect to pay for the home.  These details can be very useful in particular cases.  For example, the report discusses the three kitchen features that appeal differentially to buyers in the Millennial generation, as well as three bathroom features that are especially important to include in more expensive homes.

1. What Home Buyers Really Want, 2024 Edition sheds light on the housing preferences of the typical home buyer and is based on a national survey of more than 3,000 recent and prospective home buyers.  Every question in the survey’s extensive twelve-page questionnaire is tabulated by the buyer’s income, age, geography, race, household type, and price they expect to pay for the home. For readers interested in more detail on kitchens and baths, or other aspects of the home, the full study is available at BuilderBooks.com.