Smart home technologies in-demand in real estate

Real estate company Coldwell Banker's recent survey on over 500 real estate agents revealed that majority of realtors see that prospective buyers have a high interest in smart homes. Sixty percent of the respondents said that they saw more smart home features in listings and 64 percent said that buyers are more interested in homes with integrated smart home technology.

The most important types of smart home technology for buyers overall were security, with 65 percent of sales associates noting that prospective buyers are interested in smart security. Temperature control followed with 57 percent, safety with 48 percent and lighting with 46 percent. Smart appliances, however, had low interest, with 23 percent of home buyers having special interest in the products.

Having the highest interest in smart home technology was the 35 to 49 age group and not the younger bracket. On the one hand, this goes against a number of surveys that suggest that younger millennials were the drivers for the technology. Also, relatively few home buyers under the age of 24, as they were defined in the survey, have the ability to pay a premium for smart home features. This suggests that millennials have high interest but are in some ways too cash-strapped to afford the higher-end homes already equipping the smart home tech.

Overall, the study suggests that smart homes could make it big in the real estate market. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage-affiliated sales associate Travis Gray commented in the study that "smart home technology will soon be expected in homes, just like stainless steel and granite are the norm across properties today."