Smart home features are becoming less of a “want” and more of a “standard"
Thanks to the widespread integrations of smart technology with Google, Amazon, Apple, etc., the cost of increasingly popular smart home upgrades are now within range for most buyers. It's looking like 2022 could prove to be a pivotal year for smart home advances.
Video doorbells, automatic home locks, smart thermostats, smart lighting and even smart garage doors are no longer futuristic innovations. According to MediaPost, 69% of households in the U.S. have at least one smart device, while 12% of those (about 22 million homes) have several. An independent study conducted by John Burns Real Estate Consulting found that more than 40% of new-home buyers purchased homes with smart tech features and about 60% of new home shoppers said they are willing to pay more for smart features.
Recently, executives from several large builders and smart home technology companies weighed in on the topic and the trends they are seeing.
“Consumers are now requesting smart home features built in right out of the gate,” says Michael Williams of Brilliant, a smart home technology company that works with new-home builders. “There’s just a certain level of expectation now. Every single builder even at the lower levels needs to be thinking about smart features.”
“There’s just an expectation that you will have some kind of smart capabilities in your home today,” says Diahann Young, director of digital platforms at Pulte, one of the largest home construction companies in the U.S. “I compare it to having Bluetooth or power windows in a new car. You might not have had it as standard 10 years ago, but you almost can’t buy a car without that functionality today.”
This is a huge shift from just a few years ago, when betting on smart home automation seemed risky and was perceived as too expensive for the average home buyer. But with the explosion of smart home hubs such as Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, and Google Home Hub, all of which can run a plethora of devices from security systems and appliances to sprinkler heads and thermostats, smart home tech has suddenly been introduced en masse to the masses, with all signs pointing to the public wanting more.
