Today’s Home Buyers Older Than in ‘70s : Survey: Shoppers also want more amenities and are willing to spend more money for them.

Buyers of new homes today are much older than their counterparts of the 1970s, want many more amenities and are willing to pay extra for them.

Those are just a few of the findings of Great Western Real Estate’s 14th annual California Consumer Preference Survey, a poll aimed at finding out what Golden State home shoppers want to see when they’re visiting new housing tracts.

More than 2,700 home shoppers in 146 new tracts across the state took part in this year’s survey. Results were released at the annual Pacific Coast Builders Conference, which wrapped up Saturday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

“A lot of the things that were so popular with home shoppers in the 1970s have gone the way of disco dancing and polyester leisure suits,” said Bob Bach, a Great Western executive who worked on this year’s survey.

According to the study, the typical new-home buyer today is 37 years old, married and has one child. The family earns $62,290 a year and both parents work.

The family is willing to pay $199,430 for their new house, 12% more than buyers last year were willing to pay. They plan to make payments of about $1,380 a month, $137 more than last year’s buyers.

Among the key findings:

* Tile roofs are in and wood-shake roofs are out. Only 17% of shoppers said they would like a house with a wood roof, down from 59% in 1978.

* The typical shopper spends between 22 and 28 minutes a day driving to work. That’s a minute or two longer than they were driving last year.

* Traffic might be getting worse, but Californians’ love affair with the automobile continues. About 41% of the shoppers said they want a three-car garage, while only 27% will settle for a two-car garage.

* More people are working from home. About 44% of the shoppers said they work at home on a full- or part-time basis: Nearly 80% already own a computer or plan to buy one soon.

* Saving energy is a top concern. About two-thirds of the respondents said they would gladly pay an extra $400 to get heavy-duty insulation and another $800 to have double-pane windows.

* Mom and Dad would apparently like the kids’ bedrooms to be bigger, but not if it takes away from their own living space. Only about 30% of the home shoppers said they would sacrifice space in the living room and other parts of the house in order to have larger secondary bedrooms.

Great Western has been conducting the survey since the 1970s. Its first detailed report was issued in 1976, and a comparison of that survey and the new one provides some insight on how the attitudes and concerns of California’s new-home buyers have changed over the years.

The typical new-home buyer in 1976 was much younger than today’s buyers. The original Great Western report said the median age of home shoppers who took part in that year’s survey was 33, four years younger then today’s typical buyer.

About half of the shoppers in the original survey were in their 20s. Now, the overwhelming majority are at least 30 years old.

Only 26% of all the 1976 shoppers were renting--the rest were either still living with their parents or already owned a house. This year, 47% of all shoppers were renting their current home.

About 50% of the shoppers back then were hoping to buy a split-level home, while today’s most popular style is a two-story.

Unlike today’s consumers, shoppers in the ‘70s didn’t care much about greenbelts and other types of open space--perhaps because California wasn’t as congested or developed as it is today.

Four of every five people polled in 1976 said they wouldn’t give up the convenience of having a nearby garage in exchange for extensive green areas around their homes.

In this year’s survey, a whopping 54% of the shoppers said they wanted a home in a large planned community that had at least 30 acres of greenbelts and parks. More than 25% said they would pay an extra $10,000 if a community featured a 30-acre lake.

And here’s a sad sign of the times: 54% of all the Southern California shoppers in this year’s survey said they want a home in a walled community with an electric gate or guard. A 62% said they already have a home security system or will buy one soon.

In 1976, none of the home shoppers were even asked about security issues.

‘90 HOME SHOPPER AT A GLANCE Age: 37-years-old

Household Size: Three people

Household Income: $62,290

Income Increase From 1989

$5,470 (10%)

Home Price Willing to Pay

$199,430 (12% increase from

1989)

Home Size Wanted

1,942 square feet, up 69 square

feet from 1989

Planned Monthly Payment

$1,383, up $137 from 1989

TOP AMENITIES DESIRED BY HOME SHOPPERS

1990 Feature Ranking 1976 Ranking 1. Garage door opener (74%) Fireplace (81%) 2. Self-cleaning over (72%) Quality kitchen cabinets (81%) 3. Double-pane windows (69%) Carpeting throughout (80%) 4. Garage storage and Separate Pantry (73%) multiple electrical outlets (60%) 5. Glass shower enclosre in Dishwasher (72%) master suite (68%) 6. Upgraded insulation (67%) Fencing (70%) 7. Front-yard landscaping and Air Conditioning (62%) sprinklers (65%) 8. Tile/wood entry flooring (63%) Self-cleaning oven (59%) 9. Eye-level microwave oven (59%) Drapes (59%) 10. Mirrored wardrobes (56%) Double Oven (57%)