Smart Home Tech Officially Makes The Modern Buyer Wish List

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding smart home tech, which begs the question, is it really that big of a deal? Well, it looks like built-in technology is now a major driver of homebuying decisions, according to a new survey.

Key Takeaways

A new survey shows the demand for smart-home tech is real among millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers alike.

Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology expert? Email Craig Rowe.

A survey conducted in June by Parks Associates on behalf of Coldwell Banker polled 1,250 U.S. adults who have broadband Internet access at home. Some key findings were:

71 percent of those surveyed want a move-in ready home.
Of the respondents who opted for a move-in ready home, 44 percent said that smart home technology should already be installed.
57 percent would consider an older home updated if it had smart home technology.
The demand for smart-home tech isn’t limited to any single generation. While the largest percentage of millennials expressed interest in these features (61 percent) — Generation X (52 percent) and baby boomers (50 percent) weren’t far behind.

Hello, 2016. This got me to thinking a couple of things. First: cool.

Second: Are we doing enough at Inman to keep readers up to date on smart home innovations and issues? We’ll let the archives speak for themselves, but it seems like there will be more to come.

What follows is a brief compendium of columns and reports about smart homes that should help you brush-up on this increasingly important facet of homebuying in the internet age:

Are smart and sustainable homes really worth more? Contributor Jonathan Deesing discusses how smart home and green investments pay off at closing. (published July 19, 2016)
Will smart home monitoring jeopardize showing privacy? We ponder the possibility that smart home tech could lead to sellers monitoring showings from afar. Too tempting. (May 2, 2016)
Will smart home devices fuel the fixture debate? My video take on how embedded smart home technology will augment the pre-closing debate over fixtures. (April 4, 2016)
Coldwell Banker introduces the first smart home certificate course for agents: Coldwell Banker gets serious training agents on the future of smart homes. Is the franchise becoming a leader on the subject? (May 19, 2016)
Google announces plans to ‘supercharge’ housing tech: Here we dive into Google’s interest in smart homes. It’s Google, so try to imagine how far it’s come since. (June 12, 2015)
Smart home tech sells listings faster: More than a year ago, we started to see growing demand for smart home systems. This brief report has a great list of smart home products. (March 12, 2015)