"Dumb homes" are the latest flex

Smart homes could be on their way out the door.The big picture: "People are creating 'dumb homes,'" Beth McGroarty, vice president of research at the Global Wellness Institute, tells Axios.Some are swapping NASA-style setups for old-fashioned buttons, switches and knobs. Others are designing digital detox corners — all part of a bigger "analog wellness" movement.Between the lines: The return to analog hobbies and spaces is about more than nostalgia for pre-internet times, researchers say.A home where "technology is always in the background, working and listening, feels anxiety-producing" instead of restorative, architect Yan M. Wang tells Axios.Rising costs for smart devices, new advances rendering old systems obsolete and tech troubleshooting can also cause homeowners headaches.State of play: Reading nooks are now being mentioned 48% more often in Zillow listings compared to a year ago, reflecting "the growing demand for unplugged relaxation at home," according to Zillow's 2026 Home Trends Report.Design media brand Dwell named the decline of smart homes a top trend for 2025 and beyond.Wealthy Los Angeles house hunters have started shunning WiFi-enabled, voice-activated appliances "to escape the $100 billion home-automation industry," according to the Hollywood Reporter.Meanwhile, landlines have found new fans — many of them parents who want to keep their kids off screens, the Washington Post reports.Some Gen Zers are bringing back corded phones for an escape (and the aesthetic).Yes, but: Landlines remain rare nationwide. Roughly 79% of adults and 87% of children lived in homes with only wireless phones by the end of 2024, according to a federal survey.That's compared to 2006, when around 13% of U.S. households were wireless-only.What we're watching: Smart home features may stick around — and could push values higher — in tech-heavy markets like San Francisco or Austin, Texas."But in second-home destinations or places where buyers are looking to unplug, the ROI wasn't always there," Colorado brokerage owner Andrew Fortune told Realtor.com in April.

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