Hosting the Holidays Still Matters: How Thanksgiving Is Impacting Young Buyers’ Housing Decisions

Whether hosting Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving, the younger generations looking to purchase a home want to make sure they have the space to do up the holidays right. 

A new Realtor.com^® survey found that the majority of potential millennial and Gen Z homeowners factored in holiday hosting when looking at a new place to live. 

Moreover, while big kitchens and dining rooms were front of mind, they also knew the benefit of having extra bathrooms. Ever heard of "Brown Friday"?

Young homeowners want to gobble up homes with lots of space

According to the new survey, more than half (52%) of U.S. adults said hosting Thanksgiving dinner played at least some role in their most recent home search.

Among those surveyed, it was the younger generations that prioritized entertaining spaces the most. 60% of Gen Z and 60% of millennials say Thanksgiving entertaining factored into their housing decisions. Meanwhile, only 30% of baby boomers said the same, along with 47% of Gen X. 

“Kitchens and dining spaces are important to these younger buyers as they know how difficult it has been to buy a home in the first place, so they don’t anticipate moving for a while”, explains Cara Ameer, real estate broker at Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty in Florida.

“Many of my younger clients would love to stop renting and have a place they can call home to be able to host holidays, family dinners and enjoy having people over to cook and entertain.”

But to host properly, it’s not just about the size of the home, but the size of the most important rooms in the home for hosting. A large family room (92%) and big kitchen (92%) were tied as the top motivators for potential homebuyers who wanted to host the holidays, followed by a large dining room (86%). Interestingly, the size of the kitchen was more important than the appliances within the kitchen. Only 12% of those surveyed said a double oven was a must-have to buy a home. 

An extra commode is the ultimate commodity 

Hosting the holidays can sometimes mean having guests stay over. Interestingly, the desire to have an extra bedroom or an extra bathroom was in a pretty dead heat. 

Among all participants surveyed, nearly half (44%) would rather have a spare bedroom, while just a smidge more (45%) said they’d prefer an extra bathroom

Only the youngest generation polled, Gen Z, leaned toward having another bathroom (48%) over bedroom (39%).

But perhaps they’re more familiar with the dread,ed secret, solemnly spoken about holiday known as "Brown Friday". 

While some folks might be out shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, plenty of other homeowners are calling in a plumber to deal with issues with their sinks and toilets. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there tends to be a significant spike in plumbing issues following the big food day, with experts on the alert to assist with everything from broken garbage disposals, sinks clogged with grease and food, and toilet malfunctions due to non-dissolvable items flushed down the drain. 

So if you are house hunting and think you'll endn up being the go-to destination for the holidays, finding a place with an extra bathroom might not be the worst idea ever!