What Buyers Want In Luxury Homes Post-Pandemic

The pandemic, social distancing, and stay-at-home orders have created a shift in what home buyers are looking for in luxury residential real estate. While the public health crisis has improved, luxury homebuyers want to ensure that they have everything they need at home to survive in the future. 

Office Space

While the pandemic drove office staff to work from home for their own safety and that of their co-workers, experts do not expect everyone to return to the commuting lifestyle. In fact, it is estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the workforce will continue to work from home, including the staff of many large corporations.

While it is true that working from home is as simple as grabbing a laptop and sitting on the sofa, having a home office with a door for privacy is on the wish list of many prospective buyers.

Home Gym

With many states closing gyms and fitness centers due to the pandemic, there has been a rise in the number of buyers wanting home gyms. While many luxury homes have long had extra square footage for an exercise bike or two, buyers are looking for full-fledged home gyms with all the bells and whistles. In fact, sales of home gym equipment doubled in 2020. 

Traditional Floor Plan

The open concept floor plan has been favored by Americans for decades, but the pandemic changed their opinion. Having all family members working and schooling in the same big, open space proved challenging for many people. Home experts are even suggesting that the pandemic may have caused the death of the open floor plan or, at least, the open floorplan as you knew it.

Luxury home buyers, in particular, are gravitating to new and existing homes with traditional floorplans featuring private spaces and flex spaces in lieu of an open concept living area.

Home Theater

While streaming services were luring people to their living room couches instead of the movie theater long before the pandemic hit, home buyers are seeing the benefit of a dedicated home theater with reclining seats, a booming sound system, and the biggest screen possible. It is not difficult to re-create the feeling of a movie theater in your own home. 

Luxury residential real estate has been forever changed by the pandemic. Luxury items, like a home office or home theater, are now necessities, and once wide open floor plans are closing off to accommodate the needs of buyers post-pandemic.