Segmentation of the Home-Buyer Market

Abstract

To better understand the segmentation of the home-buyer market in American metropolitan areas, cluster analysis is applied to the results of three surveys of 6,173 recent home buyers in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), Ohio. Life-style orientation was particularly important in identifying 8 clusters, which highlights the value of using attitudinal as well as objective census-type measures. A large contiguous grouping of cosmopolitan submarkets close to downtown indicates the impact of a growing segment of the population with a taste for urban living. Methods of attracting home buyers to cosmopolitan and baseline communities—those with modestly priced homes suitable for households beginning the family mobility cycle—are discussed.

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