Survey: A new J.D. Power study shows home-buyer satisfaction going up; Pulte takes platinum.

NEW-HOME BUYERS ARE MORE SATISFIED than ever with their builders, even as the number of units built and the average price of a house increases, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study. This year, the national average industry score for customer satisfaction increased from 109 to 112, with 100 being the starting value for the index...Builders receive weighted scores based on nine factors that customers say contribute to their satisfaction: customer service (23 percent), home readiness (18 percent), builder's sales staff (16 percent), quality of workmanship and materials (14 percent), price/value (10 percent), physical design elements (7 percent), design center (5 percent), recreational facilities (4 percent), and location (3 percent). This year's study results included a first-ever Platinum Award for Excellence in Customer Service, presented to Pulte Homes. Its three brands, Pulte, Del Webb, and DiVosta, ranked highest in 14 of 25 markets and were in the top three in 23 of the 24 survey markets in which Pulte builds
[more]


--------------------
Interesting. Nearly all these homes have HOAs, of course. I wonder what would happen if the survey asked them about something besides the home itself--such as the sense of community, the quality of neighborhood governance, or some other measure that would let us see how buyers evaluate the rest of the package.