A joint research study produced by the Center For Carolina Living and CarolinaLiving.com in collaboration with integrated marketing company, The Brandon Agency, has unveiled results from 12,000 families who completed the Carolina Lifestyle Survey™.
The profile of visitors seeking relocation and investment opportunities includes age, household income, educational achievement, activity preference, geographic setting, and home style, even down to “most preferred” towns.
Highlights from the 2014-15 homebuyer profile include the following findings:
- More than 74 percent are planning to relocate from outside of the Carolinas. Sixty eight percent have set dates for exploration vacations through the region to evaluate seasonal climate and cultural and amenity lifestyle options that match their dreams of a second or primary home.
- Based on a set of geographic questions, results show that the homebuyer’s preference for a home situated in a coastal environment has increased by nine percent since 2013.
- When surveyed respondents were asked which Carolina city they favor, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Raleigh and Charlotte ranked highest.
- Surveyed homebuyers were asked to list their favorite activities and for the 28th consecutive year, access to walking paths and trails made the top of the list, followed by shopping, swimming, bicycling and gardening. Golf fell from 11th to 13th on the list of 23 options amongst the 6,000 post recession people surveyed.
- Twelve percent plan to “start” or “move” a business.
The report depicts comparative psychographics, demographics and characteristics of the 2014-15 Carolina homebuyer. All visit many times before relocating. Designed to assist TDA’s investors, community developers and builders to define the motivations and preferences of future homebuyers, the newly released profile is in the form of a Carolina Lifestyle Research Briefing.
“As Americans emerge from a deep recession, everyone in the tourism and shelter industries are seeking current intelligence on attitudes, motivations and preferences,” said Patrick Mason, co-founder of the Center for Carolina Living. “With infrastructure and customer acquisition costs rising, there is not room for errors in location, price or design these days.”
“Very often we hear from our clients ‘Who’s the new visitor or homebuyer customer and how do we efficiently grow wider enthusiasm for a brand offering?’” said Scott Brandon, CEO of The Brandon Agency. “That being said, when we were presented with the opportunity to join forces with the Center For Carolina Living to participate in mining the Carolina Lifestyle Survey™ data, we were honored. It was a great chance to give back to our community and provide some valuable research to Carolina business leaders.”
CarolinaLiving.com and the Brandon Agency are planning a series of road show briefings for executives seeking deeper insight into the findings. To view sample data charts: http://www.thebrandonagency.com/media/pdf/Lifestyle-Research-Charts.pdf.
To schedule a Lifestyle Briefing:
- Patrick Mason: (803) 782-7466, PMason@CarolinaLiving.com
- Barry Sanders: (843) 602-7937, BSanders@TheBrandonAgency.com
To view the longitudinal survey instrument completed by 3,500 families annually visit, http://www.carolinaliving.com/PDF_files/carolinalivinglifestylesurvey.pdf.
Survey Methodology
On behalf of The Center of Carolina Living and The Brandon Agency, CarolinaLiving.com conducted this survey online within the U.S. among 12,000 Carolina-bound families between 2012-13. The data charts analyze 6,000 visiting families planning to buy homes in 2014-15, surveyed in the post-recession cycle of 2012-13. An accompanying narrative reports buyer distinctions from another set of 6,000 responders surveyed in 2006-07 during the height of the real estate market. Data was collected using Structured Query Language (SQL) and Access tools. Based on these significant sample sizes and the historic accuracy of the 26-question, Carolina Lifestyle Survey™ instrument that’s been completed by 120,000 families since 1986, Clemson University social science economists observed the data delivers a 93 percent confidence level.
About The Center For Carolina Living and Carolina Living.com
Launched in 1986, the Center For Carolina Living is the first destination-marketing firm to co-brand the Carolinas. They publish the CarolinaLiving.com GUIDE and produce the 350-page original content site, used as resources by 500,000 affluent people annually.
The enterprise mission is to showcase the Carolinas, as a first class place to visit, live, grow, do business and retire, while serving Carolina businesses with a stream of motivated prospect inquiries. The research based media organization, originated the, Carolina Lifestyle Survey™, completed by approximately 3,500 families annually. Results are published to private and public sector leaders via Research Briefings. They also track social and cultural impacts and economic output impact linkage between the Tourism and In-migration Industries.
For more information, visit http://www.carolinaliving.com/press-release/press-and-research-room.asp.
About The Brandon Agency
Founded in 1959, The Brandon Agency is a fully integrated marketing agency with offices in Breckenridge, Colo.; Charleston, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland, Ohio; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Sofia, Bulgaria. Being the most creatively awarded agency in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia for the past 12 years, The Brandon Agency’s expertise in diverse marketing disciplines have produced successful programs and campaigns for a hundreds of national brands in a variety of industries, including: banking and finance; ecommerce; food service; healthcare; real estate; technology; and tourism.