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Stat of the Week: The Gated-Community Premium

A majority of renters, particularly Gen Xers, will pay to live in a gated community.

By Jerry Ascierto

Safety isn't often thought of as an amenity, but it can be quite a selling point. And it can raise the bottom line from curb appeal alone, according to our survey of more than 84,000 renters nationwide.

When asked if they'd pay more to live in a gated community compared with a "drive-through" community, 53% of all renters said they'd be willing to open their purse strings for that sense of safety.

But how much are they willing to pay for this feature? To what degree do they place a premium on gated communities? When asked if they'd pay $25 more per month to live in a gated complex, 58% of Gen Xers said yes, followed by 53% each of millennials and baby boomers. The Silent Generation, however, wasn't as enthused; only 42% of them would pay $25 more a month for this luxury.

What happens when we ratchet up the cost of that feature to an extra $50 per month? Surprisingly, the drop-off isn't significant.

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Gen X continued to lead the way in putting a premium on this safety amenity, with 52% saying they'd pay $50 more. This is a stark contrast to the 38% of the Silent Generation renters who said yes. Again, baby boomers and millennials placed a similar, albeit smaller, premium on the feature, at 49% and 48%, respectively.

The full results of our groundbreaking survey, The Next-Gen Apartment: What Renters Want, done in conjunction with J Turner Research, will be unveiled at the Multifamily Executive Conference in September.

This article was originally published by Multifamily Executive on August 12, 2016.

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