New Home Trends
Top Trends in New Homes
Today's Homes are Smaller, Cozier, and More Energy Efficient
Here's what homebuyers and builders are focusing on in today's new home market!
- Focus on Smaller Homes
Many builders are shifting from a focus on homes in the 2500 to 3500 sq ft range to homes mainly in the 1600 to 2500 sq ft range. The average and median square footage in new homes has dropped for the first time in many years. Smaller homes cost less too!
- "Great Room" Instead of Formals
More homebuyers are looking for a "Great Room" concept - one large room adjoining the kitchen for entertaining and everyday living, instead of a smaller Family Room and Living Room.
- Fewer Volume Ceilings
9 foot ceilings are still fairly standard on the first floor, but there is a decreased demand for vaulted or two story ceilings. A floor plan that offers a two story room can be "expanded" for very little cost, with a bonus room or game room added over the family room.
- More Focus on Floor Plan, Less Focus on Features
Homebuyers and home builders are opting out of many of the expensive options they were more likely to choose a couple of years ago, in order to keep overall costs in line.
- More Elaborate Kitchens, But Smaller Dining Rooms
The kitchen has become a focal point of the home. We cook, entertain, and even eat here, at large islands and seating areas. In some homes, the formal dining room disappears altogether, replaced perhaps with a home office.
- Three Car Garages
There has been more demand for larger garages, but space can get creative to save on cost. Tandem garages, where one car parks behind another, can save on the cost of an additional door, and might be more cost effective to build. Or garages may have a "workshop" or "storage" area or extension.
- Energy Efficiency
According to several recent surveys, many homebuyers are willing to spend anywhere from $5,000 to $11,000 or more to make sure that their monthly energy costs are much lower. ENERGY STAR and the Energy Wise program both offer lower energy costs. Energy Wise guarantees 50-70% savings on heating and cooling.
Looking for a new home? You may want to check out some of these other ideas!
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Fireplace Surrounds - Types and Trends
Meet the Builder Special Event
5 Easy Steps to Buying a Lot or Land
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Article copyright Stanton Homes 2010. Provided for informational purposes only, no claims are made by Stanton Homes regarding the validity of any statements. Please note: all listing information per MLS, and current as of posting date. Information subject to change. Stanton Homes does not make claims to ownership of above lot listings, but can work with homebuyers to purchase lots and build. Home plans to be approved on an individual basis, subject to neighborhood restrictive covenants and lot restrictions. Ask for further information regarding any community, lot or floor plan. Photos represent typical homes and details of each neighborhood, to help highlight different options available in the Raleigh/Triangle area. No claim of ownership is made to homes or land pictured.
Penny, this is a very good article to reblog! My Dad builds garages in Southern Maryland ( visit www.Garageprices.com) so he will love this!
Penny - This is very interesting, and you're in a position to know what new home buyers are looking for. My buyers are kinda stuck with existing inventory, so it's still location, price and condition. I do miss having new homes to sell in this area.
Penny,
That trend is evident in Toronto as well. Many of the replacement homes in good areas are much smaller than they were a few years ago.
Brian
Penny, You are so right. The builders I work with have introduced smaller, lower priced homes. Another trend I see is more buyers want ranch homes or first floor master bedrooms. Even younger buyers seem to want less steps. Also smaller homes mean lower property taxes. In the Chicago area typically the property tax will be between 2-3% of the purchase price.
Linda Metallo, Re/max Impact, Lockport, Il.
Oh, to see new construction again. It has all but stopped in our area. At one point, I worked for 15 builders in several subdivisions. Now....my last one filed Chapter 11 a couple of weeks ago. Nice to see areas where new construction is still moving.
I never understood why anyone would rave about a two story foyer, especially here in New England where all the heat just rises. Finally, the voice of reason!
This is especially true where we sell in Anthem at Merrill Ranch in Florence AZ. Most buyers are buying a retirement home or a second vacation home and they typically will want smaller, 2 beds and a den, or 3 beds, single story, etc. They want cheaper costs but also less to take care of so they can enjoy the resort style living here.
Penny - Nice info! I did see this coming. After the financial crisis there has been a fundamental change in attitude of less is more vs. I have to have the biggest everything! Hummers are being traded in for Prius and enormous homes are being scaled back to meet demand of this new attitude. New homes however will always be attractive to people especially here in the Triangle where we get such a mix of people from all over the US. Really, who doesn't want new?!
3 car garages have been essential in Oklahoma home sales. Hopefully, the day of McMansions is on the wane. It used to be a sign of "I have made it", now it is a sign of "I'm so vain".
Margaret - we're fortunate to still have plenty of ability to expand, and plenty of wonderful career opportunities. But there is some sticker shock in a few areas, like Cary, North Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, which have been top destinations for many years now!
Excellent post Penny! :) The thing about the two story foyer & living room...when a buyer first sees it, it appears "grand" and "dramatic." After about two seconds though, the very words to pop out of their mouths is...well, it's actually kind of a waste of space. There could be another bedroom upstairs, or a bonus room or loft, etc...
Great insights!
Brian - always good to hear from someone "north of the border". What percentage of home sales in Toronto are new homes? I imagine most new homes are fairly far from the center of the city now...
Linda - it's still harder to find one story and main floor master homes, though I agree that this too is a high demand item. These types of homes are still more expensive to build, and require larger lots to build on (more lot preparation, foundation, roof, etc - for the same amount of square footage). We get many requests for both styles.
Lina - fortunately our area still has a lot of new construction available! The builders going strong are those that didn't overextend themselves, or focus too much on the luxury market....
Peggy - Two story foyers are still fairly popular here, especially above the $250-300K price point, but two story rooms are becoming much less common. Fortunately the winters are much milder here...
Enoy it when agents spot and write about trends. Good job!
Stefan
Author: Swanepoel TRENDS Report
Good post today. Thanks,
Patricia/Seacoast NH
Great blog and I'm not surprised that people are downsizing...the energy saver will begin to become a must in every home as time moves on...congrats on the feature.
Really enjoyed your post. This is so true lately. I was telling a builder/developer that I work with here in our area the same exact things last week. He agreed that people are not in the mindset of "fancy upgrades" right now. My husband also is a builder and he agrees completely. Thanks for putting out there.
Penny, I think this is a result of baby-boomers retiring and wanting smaller homes to live in. Whatever the reason, I think it's a great trend and hope it's here to stay.
Joyce - smaller is definitely true in retirement areas! We've been seeing some great new two bedroom plans with spacious living areas and outdoor patios.
Nevin - We're finally seeing that bigger isn't necessarily better. It's all about use of space, and built in storage is really making a big splash, especially in mudrooms!
Great post and I think you are right on the mark. I think that this will remain the trend until the overall economy starts to pick up again.
Joe - I wouldn't say 3 car garages are essential here. They're still on the "nice to have" side, but can and do get cut off the list by homebuyers in favor of other amenities or more living space.
With the cost of land up here, it doesn't really make much sense for builders to build smaller homes. Single family homes that are still being built typically range from 3000-5000 square feet. For the large parcels of land, builders are creating townhome communities ranging from 1700-3000 square foot units.
I think a lot of people are looking for smaller more open floor plans now.
Great post. These newer, smaller homes are a sign of the times. I love the 3 garage, but not crazy about the tandem ones.
I read somewhere recently that families really only live in 2700 square feet at the most. Any square footage above that is just for storing your "stuff". In my own business, I've been seeing more Gen Yers who are not concerned with size as much as condition and amenities.
I think going forward you are right smaller and more efficient will be the way to go
We are also seeing buyers rethink the whole gigantic, fancy house in favor of something more sustainable, affordable & able to be maintained without consuming your entire life. Also seeing lots of down sizing boomers wanting to be close to town to do fun things compared to years past where the thing was the little mini farm or large house on acreage where you had to drive to get anywhere to do anything. Hard to tell how much is driven by retiring boomers rethinking their lifestyle and the general economy making EVERYBODY rethink wants vs needs.
Great Post Penny-
In metro San Diego CA, I was at first appalled 12 years ago when I moved here and saw smaller homes- 850-1300 s.f. Coming from New England, I had never seen homes so small. BUT, in the past 10 years, alot has changed: banking crisis and the "green" movement......forcing people to re-evaluate their lifestyle. Nancy made a great point above about large homes: consuming your entire life. ..to say nothing of the major negative impact on the environment.
Penny, I've been reading about this trend for quite a while and the economy seems to have given it a big push in the last couple of years. My business is made up primarily of people looking to retire to the mountains and the majority of them want to buy something here that's smaller than what they have now.
There is not much new contruction in my area, but your report is in line with what I've been reading about new constructions trends. I mean really, who needs 10,000 sq ft of living space--and in this economy who wants to pay to build it and maintain it. Perhaps the recession has gifted us with a dose of reason.
As a personal preference, I have always appreciated a smaller, well built house. I haven't run across that many clients so far that feel the same way. I think it is a great trend and hope it catches on.
Penny,
This is welcomed news. New Home Permits are leading indicators, and Raliegh is a perfect place to sustain a recovery. The rest of the areas will catch on.
Dawn - We've certainly added a lot of bonus rooms over space that was originally planned as a "second story" room! Though there are certainly still requests for vaulted ceilings - they haven't entirely gone away.
Stefan/Patricia - glad you enjoyed the article.
Tim - Thanks! Yes, energy usage continues to be a huge focus. Energy Wise in particular has been a program we're very happy to work with.
Deborah - It's amazing how much larger our homes are than those in Europe.
Nancy - we still do have lots of demand for homes on acreage or larger lots, but commute time is also a big consideration. There's usually some compromising that needs to be done!