Reprinted from The Residential Specialist, July/August 2007 issue. Visit online at www.crs.com.
What will new homes look like in 2015? For starters, they'll be slightly smaller than they are today, according to architects, designers, and manufacturers surveyed by the National Associaton of Home Builders. The average size of a new home will be 2,300 to 2,500 square feet, slightly less than the 2,459 average for the first three quarters of 2006. Higher ceilings and upscale amenities will also become more common.
Issues driving the changes include accessibility for aging baby boomers, technological advances, green construction materials and environmental concerns. Other trends:
- Formal living rooms will shrink or vanish altogether, while family rooms will get larger.
- Ceilings in the average home will be nine to 10 feet; some luxury homes will have 12-foot ceilings.
- The family room will be the most important feature in the average home, followed by low-maintenance exteriors, design, location and two-car garages. In luxury homes, design will be the most important feature.
- Outdoor kitchens and second master bedroom suites will become more common in luxury homes.
- The average home will have two and a half to three and a half bathrooms.
- Recessed lighting and bold colors will be more common in both luxury and average homes.
- Demand for energy-efficient appliances, mechanical equipment and windows, and environmentally friendly green products will increase.
- Programmable thermostats, structured wiring systems and mult-line phone systems will be standard in the average home, while luxury homes will include just about every electronic feature that is available.
SOURCE: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS
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