Nearly twice as many Americans say they’d prefer to buy a new home over a previously owned house, according to the results of a new survey from Trulia. In the poll, 41 percent of respondents said they’d strongly or somewhat prefer to buy a newly built home, while just 21 percent said they’d rather buy an existing home. But despite their preference, survey participants who said they wanted to buy a new house also said they weren’t willing to pay the extra cost. In fact, just 46 percent said they were willing to pay at least 20 percent more to buy a newly built home. Among the most popular reasons cited for a preference for new homes, modern features such as bigger closets, kitchen islands, and radiant floor heating was number one. Participants also said they would prefer to buy new because of the ability to customize the house and the fact that they’d spend less on maintenance and repairs over time. Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist, said fewer people prefer existing homes but those that do are drawn to their traditional features and locations in older, established neighborhoods. More here.