Pet Ownership at 54% of U.S. Households

From 2010 to 2014, the overall rate of pet ownership has held fairly steady, going from 53% of U.S. households to almost 54%. This equates to 61 million households in 2010 vs. 64 million in 2014, according to U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2015-2016, a new report by market research publisher Packaged Facts.

The percentage of households that own dogs has held steady for the last four years, at about 38%.  Since 2008, almost 6 million more dog-owning households have come into the market.  Households with cats have basically stayed flat between 2008 and 2014.  In 2014, about 25% of U.S. households had cats, or about 30 million households. Overall, more than half of U.S. households own either a dog or a cat. Among other animal types, reptiles have seen something of an increase in popularity from 2010 to 2014.  In contrast, households with fish have declined.

The age bracket from 18-44 (Millennials and Gen Xers) represents a combined 27 million pet owners as of 2014, or almost 2 million more than the next major bracket (45-64, essentially Baby Boomers). Pet ownership has shown marked gains among Gen Y adults over the past few years, as ownership rate was just 50% as recently as 2010 but reached 59% in 2014 and was as high as 66% in 2012. 

Despite the strong tendency toward pet ownership among 18-44 year olds, it's Baby Boomers who are poised to be the pet industry's most influential demographic group.  Boomers have broken the historical pattern of slacking off in pet ownership as they age.  Instead, they have superimposed their proclivities toward health/wellness and self-pampering onto their pets. In and of itself, this is very good news. But the news gets even better in that Boomers are rapidly aging into the senior bracket (the oldest Boomers turn 69 in 2015). If Boomers' "rule-breaking" behavior with regard to pet ownership continues, the result will be robust pet market participation in the senior cohort, where pet ownership rates have historically been far below average. On the other hand, if Boomers retroactively revert to traditional patterns of reduced pet ownership among seniors, the market may find itself challenged indeed. Packaged Facts views this latter scenario as less likely, and instead expects the aging Boomer to help drive market growth for many years to come.

Home buyers want Smart Home Technology

A recent survey of independent sales associates affiliated with the Coldwell Banker®brand found that home buyers are increasingly interested in smart home technology. Now Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, the original San Francisco real estate start-up founded in 1906, is joining CNET and some of the biggest names in smart home innovation to share insights on the future of home technology for the country's leading real estate leaders.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate is bringing together senior executives from leading smart home brands including LG, Lutron, Nest, Sengled and Tesla for a panel titled "A Smart Look at Home Innovation." The panel will take place April 30 at the Gathering of Eagles, a real estate industry conference hosted by REAL Trends. The Coldwell Banker panel will discuss smart home trends and reveal the latest in connected home technology.

The discussion will be hosted by CNET global vice president of media sales and CNET magazine publisher Courtney Cochrane and will highlight the future of smart home technology and the increasing accessibility of these products and tools. CNET is the world's largest and most trusted online source of consumer technology news and reviews.

Panel Speakers: "A Smart Look at Home Innovation"

Partner	Spokesperson	Title
CNET (Moderator)	Courtney Cochrane	Global Vice President of Media Sales and Publisher
LG Electronics USA	John Taylor	Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications
Lutron	Matt Swatsky	Director of Product Management
Nest	Ben Bixby	General Manager of Energy Products, Nest
Sengled	Robin Foreman	Vice President of Marketing and Business Development
Tesla	Jacob Monroe	Regional Sales Manager, Mid-South

"During the 2015 International CES, it was evident that smart home technology is becoming a must-have item in homes across the country," said Sean Blankenship, chief marketing officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. "We met with a number of leading companies in this space and are excited to bring their expertise together at the REAL Trends conference to present a deeper look at the connected home and various trends as smart technology continues to evolve based on homeowner needs."

"It's an exciting time for the smart home, and at CNET, we are seeing increased interest from consumers in the smart home as this technology becomes more accessible and easier to use," said Cochrane of CNET. "Smart home devices and apps are making homes more intelligent, efficient and safer."

Earlier this year, Coldwell Banker Real Estate released a survey uncovering what smart features home buyers are looking for when purchasing a home and how those features impact a home's sale.

The survey of more than 500 independent sales associates affiliated with the Coldwell Banker® brand found:

• Buyers want smart homes: Nearly two in three (64 percent) of the sales associates surveyed agreed that buyers today are more interested in homes with smart home features and technology than they were two to five years ago.
• Buyers want to control a home with a swipe of their phone: 62 percent are seeing more buyers interested in controlling their home technology through their smart phone or tablet now than they were two to five years ago.
• Gen X is the "smartest" home buyer generation: While almost half of sales associates are seeing tech-savvy Millennials (age 18-24) interested in homes with smart home features, even more (57 percent) identified Gen X (age 35-49) as the top buying group interested in smart home technology.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          According to the survey, Coldwell Banker Real Estate found that home buyers are most interested in smart home technology related to security (65 percent of sales associates agree), temperature control (57 percent), safety (48 percent) and lighting (46 percent).

Coldwell Banker Real Estate also released a list of 25 smart home products and systems to watch following the brand's visit to the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.