The Housing Satisfaction Gap: What People Want, but Don't Have

One in three US households plans to move in the next fi­ve years, and Americans will spend more than $7.4 trillion on home purchases and $2.2 trillion on rent as they seek better places to live. They will also spend more than $700 billion renovating their current homes. Indeed, the decision about where and how to live — whether to move and buy, move and rent, stay and renovate, or just stay — is always one of the most signifi­cant we make as citizens and consumers. But the ideal home is elusive to many. In fact, our research reveals a whole range of unmet housing-related desires in America — gaps between what Americans have and what they say they need or want.