Home Building Trends

Have you ever considered that your taste in homes and what is in them can change just as much as your sense of fashion in clothing or taste in cars? Just like the “trendy” pair of platform shoes with built in aquarium capacity, used homes reflect the styles, preferences and trends of the year in which they were built. One of the greatest reasons to buy a new home is that builders shift with the times. Building trends are constantly changing to reflect today’s tastes, styles and priorities.

According to an article from realtor.com, there may be a few things in your new home that go missing or may reflect the newest building trends. One of those new highlights is energy-efficient products along with closet space, programmable thermostats and laundry rooms just to name a few.

The whirlpool tub in the master bathroom makes the list of the 10 features builders are least likely to include in a home built this year, according to a recent survey from the National Association of Home Builders. And its popularity, at least among builders, has dropped since 2012, the first time this survey was done.

Admittedly, it isn’t the least likely amenity—that would be an outdoor kitchen, complete with cooking, refrigeration and sink. But that one, unlike a whirlpool, is actually a touch more likely to be included this year than in 2012.

The NAHB ask builders to rank features from 1 (not at all likely to include in a typical single-family home) to 5 (very likely to include). The lists show few changes in the top 10, and most ratings show only incremental shifts, if any. That’s because preferences don’t change very quickly, noted Rose Quint, assistant vice president for survey research at the National Association of Home Builders.

Linen closets aren’t quite going the way of laminate countertops, one of the least likely features builders will include this year, according to the NAHB survey. But their popularity has dropped over the past three years, from 4.6 to 4.2.

The focus on energy efficiency is curbing builders’ interest in building two-story rooms, Quint said. “Consumers consider those spaces to be energy inefficient,” she said.

The most popular energy-efficiency feature are low-emissivity, or low-e, windows. These have a special coating that helps keep heat inside during the winter and outside during summer.

They are now “almost the norm” in new construction, said Jeff Lowinsky, vice president for technical services at the Window and Door Manufacturers Association. Consumers looking to replace windows can judge their energy efficiency by ratings from the National Fenestration Rating Council. The U-factor, which measures how well it keeps heat from escaping, is more important in colder climates, while the solar heat gain is the more important number in warmer climates, he said.