THE BYTE

Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into.

This week we’re taking a BYTE out of millennials, Augmented Reality, getting some space, a check on gas levels, and rent. Dig in!

Generally

Maybe Homeownership Isn’t So Ruff…
Millennials are buying homes, but some for different reasons. Millennials’ dogs rated in the top three motivators they bought a new home. Also, more than half of millennials are interested in homes as investment opportunities. Lastly, older millennials are packing up and moving out of the city.

What Does It All Mean?
Millennials were asked what their top influences were in buying their home, the answers were: first: more living space (66%), second: build equity (36%), and third: better space/yard for dog (33%). Marriage and children bottomed out the list. A different study found that 55% of millennials are enthusiastic about a home being an investment and this is one reason spurring millennials to more seriously look into/buy a home. Narrowing that even farther to only talk about older millennials, they are starting to drive suburban growth and are pulling out of cities for reasons like better schools, bigger spaces, and a rise in food and stores in suburban areas.

Take On Me

A Sneak Peek
Augmented Reality (AR) has more advancements week by week. This week we saw two big developments. First, we learned that Apple’s latest ARKit being launched with its next operating system iOS 11, has some pretty great capabilities. A studio put out a video showcasing these features where you are teleported into A-Ha’s Take On Me music video. Second, we saw a barrier breakdown between AR characters and real life people. Disney invented a Magic Bench that lets you feel, hear, and sense that these imaginary creatures are in the room with you.

Take Notes

It Takes A Lot
The NAHB and Wells Fargo Housing Market Index this month reported that 64% of all builders see their lot supply as low or very low. This is the highest number of builders reporting low to very low lot supply since 1997 when NAHB decided to ask the question. Low lot supply concern has been growing over the last four years and definitely isn’t helping the housing crunch we are in.

Gassy
The current administration is looking to cut the program around residential radon risk. Some scientists are thinking that isn’t such a bad idea. Extremely high levels of radon exposure are directly linked to lung cancer and other medical conditions, but the science on low levels in homes is more of a mixed bag. Some saying it needs to stay as it is, some saying the science behind the limits is faulty, and some still trying to figure it out.

Up and Up
While home sales are booming across the country, it doesn’t seem like there are enough houses for everyone and that just might be the case. According to the Pew Research Center, renting levels are at the highest rate since 1965. Renters across all groups increased with 36.6% of all households renting. People under the age of 35 remain the most likely to rent.

Totally Unrelated

Are Homes Getting Smarter?
Smart homes and integrated security might be getting more advanced, but it seems they aren’t cat proof quite yet…