A new study from Realtor.com has found 75 per cent of millennials (born 1981 to 1996) would consider living in a 3D-printed home, citing affordability, energy efficiency and resistance to natural disasters as major benefits.
New 3D-printed home technology has been introduced in the United States, with estimates that homes can be guilt in half the time for half the cost.
A Realtor.com survey has found 66 per cent of all consumers would consider living in a 3D-printed home, with 75 per cent of millennials ready to consider the change.
The survey also found that 30 per cent of all respondents and 43 per cent of millennials think that 3D-printed homes will replace traditional methods of homebuilding.
The survey of 3026 US consumers found that 42 per cent have heard about 3D home printing technology.
That number was much higher (63 per cent) for recent home buyers, with Realtor.com senior economist George Ratiu suggesting that home searchers are doing their research when it comes to new technology.
“Over the past decade, as the homebuilding industry focused mainly on the upper-end of housing, expecting younger generations to favour renting, the price of construction has pushed new homes out of reach for many first time home buyers,” Mr Ratiu said.
“With the largest generation in US history embracing homeownership, and the pandemic accelerating the move toward suburban markets, new home construction plays a pivotal role in meeting the growing demand.
“As technology is advancing novel building solutions, anything we can do to reduce the cost of new construction and increase the number of available homes, especially at an affordable price point, will help to restore balance in this strong seller’s market.”
Factors that would persuade people to live in a 3D-printed home include: lower cost (54 per cent), more energy efficient (51 per cent), more resistant to natural disasters (42 per cent), faster to build (41 per cent), more customisable (39 per cent), and produces less waste than traditional building methods (32 per cent).
However, some consumers are still wary of the technology.
When asked what would hold them back from living in a 3D printed home, the most common response was that they want to wait and see how the technology will pan out over time (36 per cent).
Other responses include: prefer the aesthetics of a traditional home (22 per cent), think it won’t last as long (22 per cent), don’t want their home to look exactly like the neighbours’ (18 per cent), prefer an existing home to new construction (14 per cent), and don’t trust the technology (14 per cent).
But 22 per cent of respondents said nothing would hold them back from living in a 3D-printed home.
“While the technology is still somewhat nascent, our survey data shows that consumers are very interested in 3D-printed homes,” Mr Ratiu said.
“While there have only been a small number of 3D printed homes sold to date, as the technology continues to advance, we could see it add more affordable homes to the housing market. For the rising generations of digital natives, new building technology may provide a sustainable bridge toward homeownership.”
