Plenty of homebuyers associate split-levels with being unfashionably outdated — perhaps because in 1975, split-levels accounted for 12 percent of all new homes on the market, according to the National Association of Home Builders. “In New England, they’re tolerated but not beloved, in my experience,” said Kate Ziegler with Arborview Realty in Boston.
Even with their shortcomings, split-levels seem poised to shed their ugly-duckling reputation. What then will become the house style buyers shy away from most often? Victorians, Ziegler said.
“They need too much upkeep, if not actual renovation,” she said. “First-time buyers right now are very wary of projects or ‘labors of love.’”
Compared with homes built in the late 1800s and early 1900s, split-levels are quite contemporary. “Exactly once I have had a client specify that they were interested in a split-level over other housing styles,” Ziegler said. “But that preference had more to do with the age of the genre: ‘newer’ by our standards.”