Take a minute now to thank Congress for passing the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

ADD YOUR NAME NOW
pets

Your Pet Can Increase Your Home’s Value

By Tanya Svoboda
October 2019

Imagine your dream home for a moment. Does it have a fireplace, eco-friendly bamboo flooring or maybe a spa-like master bathroom? What about a catio? A custom-built space for your felines to frolic and lounge. Sounds a bit silly, but pet customizations are becoming a standard wish-list item for many prospective homeowners.

The Houzz.com article, How to Design Your House Around Your Pets, mentions that in an American Institute of Architects Home Design Trends Survey, “architecture firms reported that client interest in built-in rooms or kennels devoted to pets spiked in the past year, with 30% of respondents reporting interest in comparison to 20% last year.” The stereotype of a doghouse in the backyard no longer holds true as Americans want their pet’s needs and comfort to be integrated into their home’s interiors.

Much of the demand has to do with the fact that the newest wave of homeowners own more pets than their predecessors. The CNBC article Millennials put pets first when buying a home reports the following statistics;

  • A full 73% of millennials currently own a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association.
  • A whopping 89% of millennials who bought a home so far this year own a pet, according to Realtor.com.

However, the trend isn’t just about the quantity of pets that come with millennial homeowners. The article also shared that of the demographic mentioned above, “79% of pet-owning homebuyers who closed on a property this year said they would pass up an otherwise perfect home if it didn’t meet the needs of their pets, according to a Realtor.com survey.”

The success of pet-centric businesses like Chewy.com, an online pet retailer with a $14 billion IPO, is a great indicator that investing in home upgrades that would appeal to future buyers with pets may be advantageous.

Despite some market fluctuations after the initial IPO, Nomura analysts are still advising tech investors to look to Chewy.com because “the demand for pet products has shown to be resilient during recessions.” In fact, the pet industry generally has a reputation for standing strong during market slumps. Perhaps another reason, adding a catio or integrating a pup bed into your kitchen island might be a savvy move for homeowners who want to add value to their home.


SHARE THIS STORY:

Related Stories