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A year of working from home, wearing a mask and ordering in food can certainly change your outlook on life — and a new StreetEasy survey turns the spotlight on where priorities lie after 12 months of staying indoors in a pandemic.
So what would be the number one requirement for you in a new apartment? Permission for keeping a pet is still pretty high on the StreetEasy list, but it has been knocked off the top billing by… the inclusion of an in-unit washer and dryer. Office wear may be nestling at the back of the closet these days, but it seems we like our Zoom meeting jammies and sweats freshly laundered!
Although a tad puzzling, given the temperatures at this time of year, a new entry to the top 10 list of amenities is central air conditioning — seen as a major upgrade from the typical window AC unit. In property searches in December and January, central AC was requested three times more often than a fireplace.
A new and improved search engine is helping to fine-tune the data too. Searches for private outdoor space are outnumbering those for shared outdoor spaces (such as roof decks or courtyards) by nearly seven to one, and searches for buildings with a gym by more than three to one.
“Privacy has been key as of late,” says Reba Miller, licensed real estate salesperson at Berkshire Hathaway told StreetEasy. “Balconies and terraces are extremely sought after. I’ve also been asked about private elevator access, and the number of units in a building more often since COVID. The more private, the better.”
