Iowans appear to be the happiest home owners, a “New Homebuyer Happiness Index” shows. The state ranks number one in the consumer survey that asked about neighbor friendliness and safety, job market, raising a family potential, and homeowner regret.
It’s not just Iowans who are happy, but overall, home buyers appear happy with where they are, according to the survey of 5,672 consumers who purchased a home in 2019 conducted by LawnStarter, a national on-demand lawn and landscaping service company. The overall reading on the index was 81 on a 100-point scale, with 100 being the happiest ranking.
Residents of Iowa were happiest with a score of 86.6, followed by those in Wisconsin, Nebraska, Alabama, and North Dakota.
“Location played a strong role in happiness, but so did the price paid, square footage, number of bedrooms, and even the architectural style,” researchers note in the study.
Indeed, homeowner happiness tended to rise with square footage and the number of bedrooms. People with five or more bedrooms tended to be 17% happier than those with just one bedroom. Also, homes of 3,000 square feet or more scored greater happiness values than those with less.
But paying more for a home didn’t tend to correlate with happiness. The least happy home owners tended to be those who paid more than $900,000 for a house. Those who paid less than $100,000 for their home also tended to be unhappy. “The happiest homeowners were those in between, who paid between $100,000 to $900,000,” the study notes. Also, home owners who had to make significant sacrifices to buy the home ended up being less happy, the study finds. For example, those who took on a second full-time job to pay for the home were the unhappiest with their purchase.
Source: “Homebuyer Happiness Survey: Iowans Happiest With Their Home Purchase,” Lawnstarter.com (Feb. 18, 2020)
