New Bathroom Trends

What’s the greatest thing since indoor plumbing? His-and-hers shower stalls. But say bye-bye to the bidet.

Luxury bathrooms have undergone some notable changes since 2008, considered the peak of the real-estate bubble, according to a survey by the Home Innovation Research Labs (HIRL). The biggest casualties are whirlpool bathtubs and stand-alone bidets, down 9.4% and 34.9%, respectively, over the six-year period.

   

In the study, conducted between January and March, roughly 1,400 home builders cited trends in new construction in 2013. Analysts at HIRL, a subsidiary of the National Association of Home Builders, then compared the findings with its 2008 survey results.

“Since the recession, there have been a lot of trade-offs,” said Ed Hudson, director of the group’s market-research division. Luxury homes have shrunk slightly, from 4,190 square feet in 2008 to 4,049 square feet in 2013. Home buyers, even on the luxury end, are more conscientious about what they look for in amenities, he said.

In some cases, buyers toned down the guest bathrooms to focus on the master suite, said Scott Hobbs, president of custom home builder Hobbs Inc. in New Canaan, Conn. “People choose to spend money where they’re most going to enjoy it,” he said.

Aesthetically, new homes today are less ornate than they were in the go-go days of the housing boom, said April Saxe, an agent with Houlihan Lawrence who sells multimillion-dollar homes in Westchester, N.Y. “The [whirlpool] tub has certainly been on the way out,” she said. Instead, that space may be going toward a new soaking tub or shower stall.

Even for buyers who weren’t hit hard by the downturn, decorum dictated some stylistic changes. The bathroom is less showy and much more contemporary since the recession, said Leo Birov, founder of Heritage Luxury Builders in Northfield, Ill. “Everything looks more transitional now,” he said, with popular features including heated floors, steam showers and computerized controls.

But that doesn’t mean bathrooms are less luxurious. Mark Pulte, founder of luxury home builder Mark Timothy Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla., said he is building showers with a half dozen body sprays, his-and-her shower heads and waterproof keypad controls for all the nozzles.

He is noticing one demographic shift on the ultrahigh end. Younger clients want one large his-and-hers shower with two entrances; “the older crowd wants separate showers.”

Plansource, Inc., http://www.plansonline.com, remains a portal for information on the homebuilding industry.

Reprinted from WSJ and Builder magazine

Top Ten States For New Homes Sales-Florida is #2

New home sales data from the Census Bureau showed a drop of 8.1 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis.  The decline since the beginning of the year comes to 11 percent.

The northeastern U.S. markets slowed sharply.

In June, and so far in July, we are back to a situation where home shoppers are shopping but a relatively small proportion of them are actually buying.  This is explained in some cases by a long lead time (people taking longer to make a decision), and in other cases by a complete reluctance to buy.

Here is a look at the last year in New Home Sales by region showing sales have decreased slightly over the past few months.

In Southern California in particular, conversion rates are slipping, and traffic is still high.

According to our weekly data in Southern California, traffic is still running high relative to last year’s levels, but conversion rates are sub-par, and still slipping.

A related story is last week’s surprisingly weak read on housing starts.  The real explanation seems to have been lost in the shuffle: icy weather conditions in the Deep South last winter slowed the pace of development (paving, infrastructure), exacerbating the shortage of lots in places like Raleigh-Durham.

Despite low conversion rates nationwide, hot markets are keeping sales up in some states. The strong Texas markets and active adult magnets in Florida have pushed the two to the top of the list for new home sales in 2014. Here is a look at the year-to-date top 10 states.

Top 10 States for New Home Sales in 2014

1. Texas: 33,177 closings
2. Florida: 19,416 closings
3. California: 14,280 closings
4. North Carolina: 10,249 closings
5. Georgia: 7,280 closings
6. Colorado: 5,602 closings
7. Washington: 5,337 closings
8. Arizona: 5,309 closings
9. Virginia: 4,836 closings
10. South Carolina: 4,345 closings

Plansource, Inc., is a Tampa-based full service residential design firm that remains a portal of information for homebuilders and the homebuilding industry.  http://www.plansonline.com

 

Reprinted from Builder Magazine

Builders Boost Construction

U.S. builders started work in August on the most single-family homes in six months and requested permits to build even more in future months. The figures suggest housing remains are driver of economic growth despite higher mortgage rates.

The Commerce Department says builders increased construction of single-family homes 7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000. That was the most since February. And they sought 627,000 permits for them, a 3 percent increase from July and the most since May 2008.

Overall, builders broke ground on 891,000 houses and apartments last month, up from 883,000 the previous month. The gain in single-family homes was offset by a decline in volatile demand for apartments.

 Plansource, Inc. remains a portal of information for homebuilders and the homebuilding industry.

Reprinted from AP

15 New Design Trends for Single Family Living

 

From spalike master baths to super-large kitchens and beautiful outdoor spaces, a range of consumer preferences is driving home design. My newly compiled list of lifestyle and design trends details what consumers want in a home now and in years to come.

• Smaller homes. According to the results of a recent AIA Design Trends Survey, there is a growing interest in smaller home sizes and volumes due to an effort to contain energy costs. The era of the McMansion could be over, and a significantly higher number of architects have reported demand for smaller homes. The key is to create scale and function over size, while creating more financially attainable homes.

• Private outdoor spaces. Almost all homeowners—whether baby boomers, empty nesters, or Gen Y—want less maintenance and more privatized outdoor space to gather and entertain without the neighbors watching. This design trend can be achieved by positioning architecture around the outdoor space or by allowing the outdoor space to pierce architecture, affording more living spaces in the house to be exposed to the outdoor area.

• Better indoor/outdoor connectivity. The use of large floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors brings the outdoors into the home experience. These thresholds to the outdoors offer more light and access to private outdoor space, resulting in the interior feeling like it extends beyond the walls.

• Covered outdoor rooms. These outdoor rooms expand the utility of adjoining interior spaces. The rooms become outdoor retreats, providing intimate relaxing spaces, still covered and protected, but open to the outdoors. Often these spaces include a stone fireplace to complete the living room feel.

• Personalization. Whether for a resale or a new home, consumers are looking to find and purchase feature elements that reflect their personal tastes and preferences, from kitchen products and bath fixtures to custom flooring and even the overall layout of the home.

• Super-sized kitchens. In addition to food preparation, the kitchen serves as an entertainment area when guests are present, a conversation area among family members, or even a place for homework or a craft project. Islands and their seating capacity must expand in size, and utility spaces and pantries need to be able to store more packaged foods, which are now purchased in larger boxes and in multiple quantities.

• More seating for media areas. The typical home TV is now a large flat-screen TV capable of everything from games to 3D movies to surfing hundreds of cable channels or the Internet. The increasing TV sizes have created a design need for more wall space and larger seating capability.

• Spalike master baths. The bathtub is not dead, but it often is an afterthought in many designs. For many homeowners, especially women, taking a bath is considered private time and an opportunity to escape. Design the bathroom to look like and feel like a hotel spa to get a woman’s attention.

• Larger garages. Garages provide much more than just storage for cars. They have myriad uses from additional bedrooms, a teenage hangout or band practice room, extra storage, or an exercise room. Creating a larger garage to accommodate more functions is a tremendous value to the consumer.

• Storage. Closets and other storage areas rarely get designed into a home in sufficient quantities and in primary locations. In fact, it seems you can never provide enough storage space—79% of buyers want more storage than home builders are providing. Giving them more gives them a reason to move.

• Home offices. The office and den are trending from a preference to a need, but the typical office location off the home’s entry is not considered an intelligent or practical location. The better location is closer to the main living area of the house—the kitchen hub and family room.

• Grand entries. Buyers are looking for entry design and drama but, over the past 10 to 15 years, we have stacked living spaces over the entries, which has impacted this. Creating volume in these spaces will increase the wow factor and please buyers.

• Dual-use homes. Multigenerational living has become part of our culture. Families are staying together longer for various reasons, economic as well as cultural. Lower-level living suites with their own entrance, living spaces, and kitchenette are becoming more prevalent.

• Technology. New products create a need for a new lifestyle, which revolves around the use of hand-held electronic devices. How can a family room support two laptops and an iPad notebook and multiple smartphones? Are we designing more electric plug capability to accommodate recharging needs? Are master bedrooms able to accommodate a flat-screen TV?

• Dogs. While we design homes for human habitation, don’t forget man’s best friend. Approximately 37% of all U.S. households have a dog. Capture pet-lovers’ hearts by adding practical conveniences such as built-in doggie doors, pet showers, and storage for pet-related items.

Plansource, Inc., www.plansonline.com, is a Tampa, FL based full service residential design firm that remains a portal of information for homebuilders and the homebuilding industry.

Photo copyright Plansource, Inc.

Reprinted from Builder magazine

 

 

New Homes are Less Expensive to Maintain

One of the virtues of a newly constructed home is the savings that come from reduced energy and maintenance expenses.

Data from the 2009 American Housing Survey (AHS) offer proof. The AHS classifies new construction as homes no more than four years old.

For example, for routine maintenance expenses, 26% of all homeowners spent $100 or more a month on various upkeep costs. However, only 11%  of owners of newly constructed homes spent this amount. In fact, 73% of new homeowners spent less than $25 a month on routine maintenance costs.

Similar findings are available for energy expenses. On a median per square foot basis, homeowners spent 78 cents per square foot per year on electricity. Owners of new homes spent 65 cents per square foot per year.

For homes with piped gas, homeowners spent on average 53 cents per square foot per year. Owners of new homes spent 38 cents per square foot per year.

These data highlight that a new home offers savings over the life of ownership due to reduced operating costs. This is one of the many reasons that the current system of appraisals needs updating to reflect the flow of benefits that come from features in a new home.

Plansource, Inc., www.plansonline.com, remains a portal for information on the homebuilding industry.

Reprinted from NAHB

Senior Housing-An Opportunity?

By the year 2050, the population of Americans aged 65 and older will have more than doubled to nearly 90 million—a growth rate faster than any other age group in the country.

Many of the trends likely to be most formative among the senior population in coming years, according to the report, pivot on the financial implications of entering retirement years. Currently, one in four households with a member aged 85 or older—a group whose population will more than triple by 2050—spends at least half of its income on housing, as do one in five households with a member aged 65 to 74.

This older population is also living longer, which will increase the number of elderly persons living with a disability. “Some studies indicate that one in four older adults is likely to have a lower body limitation that requires a modification to the entry to their homes, inside their home, or in the bathroom,” the report says. And as lower-income households are the most likely to have disabilities, the need for accessible housing built for low- and moderate-income households will be great.

The private home building sector will play a critical roll. It’s important for the private sector to try to anticipate the need and respond with a product that will work. It provides an opportunity.

In communities where builders provide a mix of products that can accommodate aging citizens at a range of income levels while giving them access to the support they need, he says, demand will be great. “The key here is designing communities with services, reaching out and forming partnerships with service providers and agencies. …  The data suggest that people 85 and older are open to moving into some nontraditional housing types, such as multifamily housing with services.

The challenge for builders is the breadth of services required, which could include assistance with getting dressed to help cooking meals to transportation services. Your standard home builder is not going to be in a position to provide these things directly, so if they want to really capture this market, they can partner with organizations that can provide those services.

Another part of the solution may be more multigenerational households, which are still a relatively small percentage of the population (currently only 4.4% of households have three or more generations living under one roof, according to the report), but the segment is growing more rapidly than households at large: Between 2000 and 2010, the total number of U.S. households increased by 11% while the ranks of multigenerational households were up 21%.

One home design trend that “really has legs going forward,” is the increased focus on ultra-flexible floor plans able to accommodate a range of household scenarios. The population is changing, and traditional homes might be harder to sell in some markets.

Plansource remains a portal to up to date housing information. 

www.plansonline.com

Reprinted from Builder magazine

RE Pros see turnaround in 2012-FL has 2 top spots!

A recent survey of more than 1,800 real estate professionals has indicated that 2012 might represent the end of the down real estate market and the start of a rebound, with 10 specific local markets expected to lead the way. The biggest challenges facing the recovering market, agents said, will be short sales, loan qualification rules and foreclosures.

Below is a list of real estate markets ranked by real estate agent confidence, according to the survey:

Top Real Estate Markets

1. Fort Myers – Naples

2. Austin

3. Boise

4. San Antonio

5. Miami – Fort Lauderdale

6. Denver

7. Dallas – Fort Worth

8. Nashville

9. Houston

10. Salt Lake City

Worst Real Estate Markets

1. Reno

2. Sacramento

3. Chicago

 4. New York

5. Providence, RI

6. Springfield, MO

7. San Diego

8. Los Angeles

9. Cleveland

10. Philadelphia

Plansource, Inc. remains a portal for information about housing and design.

www.plansonline.com

reprinted from ActiveRain

Design Sells

Designing a home for today’s consumer is challenging, given the market dynamics, competitive environment, changing demographics and financial and time constraints. Successful designers create from research and experience.   They:

• Know what motivates today’s buyers
• Understand their lifestyles
• Know what products and features are important to them
• Measure the cost/benefits
• Understand the options available elsewhere
• Have the pulse of changing market dynamics

• Design cannot be successful without all of these components.

  Design is a top priority for consumers today. Good design is the balance consumers are looking for in order to motivate them to make a purchase. As shown in the graph below, “home style and design” ranked second in our survey of 10,000 prospective buyers across the nation – second only to the most important investment rule in real estate: “location, location, location.” Interestingly, price ranked below location and design nationally and in many parts of the country. Location, design and price ranked among the top three priorities in all MSAs reported (although not always in this exact order for every MSA).

  

  What does home style and design mean? While architecture varies by region, location and demographic profile, our survey findings showed that consumer preferences were not significantly different throughout the country. The biggest differences were dictated by household size and family status, coupled with the financial realities in each market. For example, the Texas buyer can afford a lot more home than the Washington, D.C. buyer.

  Profitable Design in 2011: We are seeing all sorts of creative design in the market, with many of the best-designed homes outselling the competition by 300%.

Plansource, Inc. remains a portal of information for homebuilders throughout Florida and the southeastern United States.  www.plansonline.com.  Reprinted John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

Use Ugly Homes to your Advantage

Maybe Americans aren’t avoiding buying homes right now — maybe they’re just avoiding buying ugly homes. The housing market may be splitting into two sub-sectors: well-kept, good-looking homes and run-down, torn-up homes. Could the latter group be preventing the housing market from stabilizing?

The disparity between these two groups of homes matters, because  prices of the good properties remain relatively strong recently, as prices of worse properties have declined. This means that it’s those run-down, dilapidated foreclosed homes and short sales that will disproportionally bring down aggregate home prices, while well-kept homes should see much smaller price declines, or even appreciation.

Sellers need their house to appear as pristine as possible to appear to buyers. But his observation could have another logical conclusion: the market could be ripe for some renovate-and-flip business.

Let’s continue with Florida as an example. The foreclosure discount for the state was 27% in the first quarter, according to RealtyTrac. So let’s say a foreclosed home’s list price is $250,000, but it sells for $182,500 due to that discount. If that buyer puts $35,000 into the home to give it a facelift and a few key upgrades, it may achieve a price close to the list price at resale, assuming experience holds. That would provide a 15% return on investment in probably for a few months work.

This doesn’t mean that all foreclosures could be easily revitalized. Savvy investors would have to be able to tell apart those that have potential to be converted into more desirable homes without an excessive investment from those that don’t. Floor plan and location are probably key characteristics in that determination. But more home flipping could be another part of the answer to working through some of the immense housing inventory out there.

This gives investors two options: revitalize the foreclosures that have sale potential and rent out the others. If the inventory is tackled through these strategies, then price aren’t going to suddenly soar, but they could begin to stabilize sooner.

Plansource, Inc. www.plansonline.com remains a portal for information for the homebuilding industry.

Reprinted from Atlantic

Plansource wins 2011 Aurora Award

The Aurora Awards are the most coveted symbol of building and design excellence in the home building and design industry.

Sponsored by the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA), one of the largest professional associations of its kind, the Aurora Award design competition is presented to outstanding builders, planners, architects, developers, designers, interior merchandisers and other housing-related professionals within a 12-state SE and Eastern Caribbean region.

Winning the award garners respect and distinction and is recognized throughout the industry as the southeast region’s premier building and design competition.  Since its inception over 31 years ago, the Aurora Awards continues to be the major event at the Southeast Building Conference.

Plansource can be reached at www.plansonline.com.