VISION House Las Vegas Reflects National Buyer Trends

Demographics and consumption behavior drive buyer profiles for builders.

When Beazer Homes researches and generates profiles of potential buyers for their homes in various communities, they rely on internal and external data about preferences and interests. Those factors and more influence the design features and finishes for homes that reflect the demographics of the surrounding community. 

At the VISION House Las Vegas, a Zero Energy Ready, connected, healthy, smart home built in partnership with Green Builder Media, the largest pool of buyers is anticipated to be older millennials and younger Gen Xers with kids at home or with older kids heading out of the nest. In addition, some buyers may be empty nesters looking to downsize and a few may be young double-income households with plans to start a family. 

Beazer Home’s research into who will buy the VISION House Las Vegas and similar homes in other markets reflects similar insights into buyer preferences by Green Builder Media’s COGNITION Smart Data.

Millennial interests drive some of their home preferences. Overall, Millennial buyers prefer compact floor plans and prioritize healthy, resilient homes, according to Green Builder Media’s COGNITION Smart Data. They are more concerned about the cost of homeownership than other generations. The chart below shows millennial homebuyer responses about the causes and topics they prioritize. 

Source: COGNITION Smart Data

Sustainability: A Priority for Half of Buyers in Every Generation

Beazer Homes is demonstrating their commitment to sustainability with the VISION House Las Vegas project and their resolve to build every home in every community to meet Zero Energy Ready standards. Beazer has built similar homes in the past, but their new commitment goes further to encompass every home at every price point. They’re doing this because it’s the right way to build and because of their deep research into what today’s buyers want. 

Solar with storage, smart technology and resiliency products are especially appealing to younger generations of buyers, but at least half of every age cohort says they are willing to pay more upfront for sustainability upgrades that will lower the cost of homeownership over time, according to Green Builder Media’s COGNITION Smart Data. The following charts demonstrate how willing homebuyers are to pay for upgrades by generation. 

Source: COGNITION Smart Data

While a larger percentage of all generations want home features that improve energy efficiency, millennial buyers and baby boomer buyers - two of the cohorts that Beazer believes will buy home similar to the VISION Las Vegas model - are the generations with the highest percentage willing to pay extra for energy upgrades.

Source: COGNITION Smart Data

Beazer’s profile of potential buyers of their Ready Homes similar to the VISION House Las Vegas includes older millennials and younger members of the Gen Z generation. Both of these groups express a willingness to pay more for an all-electric house. 

Source: COGNITION Smart Data

Millennials and members of the baby boomer generation are the most willing to pay for solar energy and storage, while Gen Xers are somewhat less willing. However, more Gen Xers said they would pay for solar and storage compared to members of their generation who would not pay for that upgrade. Beazer’s buyer profiles also show an interest in sustainable features among buyers. 

Source: COGNITION Smart Data

Smart technology can be used to control temperatures and manage energy use in a household, but only the younger generations - Gen Zers and millennials - are willing to pay for that upgrade. Among Gen Xers and baby boomers, a little more than half of respondents said they wouldn’t pay extra for smart tech.

Source: COGNITION Smart Data

Resiliency, which can include the ability of a house to withstand the impact of storms, fires and extreme temperatures along with power outages, is more important to Gen Zers and millennials. While members of the younger generations are more likely to be willing to pay for resilience features, Gen Xers and baby boomers are about evenly split. 

Source: COGNITION Smart Data

Every generation expresses willingness to pay extra for water innovations, a reflection of buyer concern over dwindling water supplies, an indication of the readiness of buyers to take sustainability efforts to a new level. 

Source: COGNITION Smart Data

While the younger generations are the most willing to pay more for a healthy home, more Gen Xers and baby boomers are also willing than not to pay extra for a healthy home. Beazer’s buyer profiles indicate an interest in health, fitness and wellness among buyers. Features that improve indoor air quality and energy management systems that maintain appropriate temperature and humidity for better sleep are part of the VISION House Las Vegas.