Lifestory Research Reports: America's Most Trusted Home Builders in 2020

Taylor Morrison and Trilogy by Shea Homes Rank Highest in Most Trusted Brands Among Home Shoppers

News provided by

Jan 14, 2020, 10:00 ET

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Intense competition in the real estate industry, driven by demand and interest rates, has contributed to a significant focus of new home shoppers on brand trust, according to the Lifestory Research 2020 America's Most Trusted® Study released today.

The study finds that 77 percent report that trust is a crucial standard by which they judge the merits of a home builder before making a purchase decision. "Homebuilders are required to consider how people view and trust their brand if they wish to compete in the new housing marketplace effectively," said Lifestory Research President Eric Snider. "The length of time between home purchases is increasing, and home builders are heavily dependent on brand trust as a key differentiator. Homebuilders can't expect to stay competitive in this market if they ignore what new home shoppers are thinking."

In a fundamental change from product and satisfaction research, Lifestory Research is focused on identifying how brands influence the purchase behavior of shoppers. "We have seen a fundamental consumer shift in how people make decisions as they shop for products and goods over the last several years," Snider said. "Consumers now have a personal research process that relies not on only one accumulating knowledge from online sources, but people are proactively seeking out the opinions of their peers, friends, and digital social networks to gather views."

Lifestory Research 2020 America's Most Trusted® Study tracks the largest homebuilder brands in the largest housing markets in the United States. The study examines trust among new home shoppers as they are actively in the process of looking for a new home. The study examines brand trust within the broader home building industry, within the 55+ active adult housing segment, and for the first time within the manufactured housing segment. Trust is measured through the Lifestory Research Net Trust Quotient Score, which identifies customers that are trust advocates and trust antagonists. America's Most Trusted® is an annual study performed by Lifestory Research in which the brand's people trust the most are identified.

America's Most Trusted® Home Builder

The Lifestory Research 2020 America's Most Trusted® Home Builder is Taylor Morrison. This is the fifth consecutive year that consumers have identified Taylor Morrison as the home builder they trust above all others. As the 2020 Lifestory Research America's Most Trusted® Home Builder, Taylor Morrison received the 5 Star Trust Rating in the study with a Net Trust Quotient Score of 115.9 from people actively shopping for a new home. The 2020 ranking is based on 34,882 opinions of people surveyed between January and December in the United States.

Brands included in the final ranking were those that were known throughout the United States as measured by brand awareness within the new home construction industry in the largest 35 housing markets. The national ranking includes the 25 largest home builders in the United States based on annual closings. The most trusted home builders, in order, were Taylor Morrison, Toll Brothers, William Lyon Homes, Shea Homes, Woodside Homes, TRI Pointe Homes, Brookfield Homes, Richmond American, Drees Homes, LGI Homes, Mattamy Homes, K. Hovnanian Homes, Century Communities, David Weekley Homes, Meritage Homes, Ashton Woods, MI Homes, Pulte Homes, Ryan Homes, Beazer Homes, Lennar, DR Horton, KB Home, Highland Homes, and Perry Homes.

America's Most Trusted® Active Adult Resort Home Builder

The Lifestory Research 2020 America's Most Trusted® Active Adult Resort Builder is Trilogy by Shea Homes. This is the eighth consecutive year in which customers actively shopping for a new home in an active adult 55+ resort community indicated Trilogy is the brand they trust the most. As the 2020 Lifestory Research America's Most Trusted® Active Adult Resort Builder brand, Trilogy received the 5 Star Trust Rating with a Net Trust Quotient Score of 116.1 among people actively shopping for an active adult resort community.

The most trusted brands, in order, included Trilogy, Toll Brothers, Taylor Morrison, The Villages of Sumter Lake, Del Webb, and Four Seasons by K. Hovnanian. The 2020 ranking is based on 12,624 opinions of people surveyed between January and December in the United States who indicated they were actively shopping for a new active adult resort 55 plus home. To be considered, brands needed to receive enough survey responses to achieve a 95% confidence level with no more than a 3% margin of error. If a brand had a low brand awareness and did not have enough brand judgments, it was excluded from the national rankings.

America's Most Trusted® Manufactured Home Builder

The Lifestory Research 2020 America's Most Trusted® Manufactured Home Builder is the Fairmont brand. The study examines trust among consumers actively shopping for a manufactured home. The 2020 ranking is based on 3,494 opinions of people surveyed between January and December in the United States. This is the first year in which brand trust was measured within this category. Brands included in the final ranking were those that were known throughout the United States as measured by brand awareness. Fairmont generated a Net Trust Quotient Score of 80.5 and the 5 Star Trust Rating among people actively shopping a manufactured home. The most trusted manufactured home brands, in order, were Fairmont, Champion, Lexington, Cavco, Fleetwood, Clayton, Silvercrest, and Palm Harbor.

About the America's Most Trusted® Study

America's Most Trusted® is a consumer-based research program based on the opinions of thousands of people actively shopping products. To identify America's Most Trusted®, Lifestory Research conducts an ongoing annual survey in which people anonymously assess the trust they have in brands they encounter during their active search for specific products. Lifestory Research surveys people using well established social science research practices that seek to adhere to the highest quality standards of consumer insight. America's Most Trusted® is a registered trademark of Lifestory Corporation. No advertising use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of Lifestory Research. Learn more. #mostrustedbrands

About Lifestory Research®

Leaders, companies, and brands know that great ideas are only useful if they move people toward action. Lifestory Research is an independent, science-driven consumer insights and strategy consulting firm that ignites relationships between companies and their audiences. We are passionate about customers, employees, brands and the science of influence. We use quantitative and qualitative research to create customer insights, drive innovation, deliver brand strategy, and move people forward.

For more information, please visit www.lifestoryresearch.com

SOURCE Lifestory Research