That Room You Call "Extra"? It Might Be the Whole Reason They Buy.

The guest suite over the garage. The casita by the pool. The lower level with its own kitchenette and its own front door. To you, it's flexible space. To a growing number of buyers along the coast, it's the entire reason they'd choose your home over the one next door. Here's why.

Generational Living Is Having a Moment

More families are choosing to live together on purpose. Parents. Adult children. Grandparents. All under one roof, but each with their own space to close the door on. Nationally, households spanning three or more generations grew from 3.2 million to nearly 4 million over the past decade, according to Realtor.com. And that trend is only picking up speed.

Why now? Rising costs, caregiving needs, and a genuine desire to stay close have all played a part. But the effect on the market is the same everywhere: buyers are actively seeking homes built for more than one generation, and Coastal Orange County has always had more of these homes than most places. A detached casita in Laguna Beach. A guest wing in Corona del Mar. A lower-level suite with separate access in Dana Point. These aren't quirks of an older floor plan. They're increasingly the feature buyers ask for first.

What Is That Extra Space Actually Worth?

Here's where it gets interesting for anyone weighing a sale. Homes with true multi-generational features carry a real premium. The median asking price for one nationally was $709,000 in 2025, roughly 65% above the $429,900 median for a standard home. Some of that is simply square footage. But even comparing homes of the same size, multi-generational properties still commanded more, $262 per square foot versus $215.

That's a 22% premium for the features many coastal homeowners already have: a private suite, a second kitchen, a separate entrance. Features that, in Newport Beach and along the rest of the coast, often came standard with the original architecture.

Do Buyers Hesitate at the Higher Price?

They don't, and that's the part sellers find most reassuring. These homes actually drew 13.5% more online interest than standard listings, and they sold at nearly the same pace, around 59 days on market. As Hannah Jones, Senior Economic Research Analyst at Realtor.com, put it: "The strong demand and steep premiums we are seeing in inventory-constrained markets point to a real mismatch between what buyers are looking for and what is actually available. For sellers in these markets, this type of home can be a significant asset."

When a home solves a very specific need, it tends to rise to the top of a buyer's list. And it tends to hold its value there.

Is This the Right Time to Talk?

If your home has a guest suite, a casita, or a lower level with its own entrance, that space may be worth far more than you've given it credit for.

We've spent a career reading this coastline: over $1 billion in career sales, work that places us among the top 1% of Coldwell Banker teams nationally, and an average 97.6% list-to-sale price for our clients. Roughly 65% of our business comes from people we've already worked with, or the friends they've sent our way. We don't just walk away after closing. We stay the trusted resource for whatever comes next.