Kitchen & Bath Design News

AUG 2013

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Consumer Buying Trends { Demographics & buying patterns for the home } ® A CYGNUS BUSINESS MEDIA PUBLICATION SALES OFFICES NATIONAL SALES MANAGER MIDWEST Michael Mandozzi 3030 W. Salt Creek Lane Arlington Heights, IL 60005 Phone: 847-454-2715 Email: mike.mandozzi@cygnus.com Improving Market Seen Leading to Larger Homes, Upgrades WASHINGTON, DC — As the once struggling residential market continues to steadily improve, the size of homes has grown in response. This is the case for both high-end and custom homes, as well as additions to existing homes. In addition, preferences for accessible spaces in homes – such as openspace layouts and single-foor designs – also continue to rise. That's the key conclusion of the latest in a quarterly series of "Home Design Trends Surveys" conducted by ⇨ Accessibility is an increasingly the American Institute important of Architects. The frsttrend in kitchen quarter 2013 survey design, with was conducted by the consumers Washington, DC-based investing in AIA among a panel products that of more than 500 armake it easier to chitecture firms that access kitchen concentrate their pracspace, such as tice in the residential Blum's Servosector. It focuses specifcally on home layout Drive for Aventos electronic and the use of interior opening system and exterior space. for lift doors, According to the seen here. survey's results, households "continue to show more confdence in the recovering housing market," investing in more outdoor amenities and larger homes despite strained lot sizes. "Residential architects report that home sizes have bottomed out and have begun to bounce back," observed the AIA, noting that home layouts continue to favor fexibility in the use of space, as well as open-space designs. In addition, the AIA said, accessibility around the home (and into and out of the home) remains a major objective for households. And even though lot sizes show no signs of increasing, households continue to invest in their properties both by adding to their outdoor living areas and by blending indoor and outdoor space. According to the AIA, residential architects surveyed in the frst quarter reported a dramatic shift in home sizes during the housing downturn. In 2005, after several years of growth, 42% of residential architects reported home sizes to be increasing, while only 13% reported them to be declining. The share of respondents reporting size increases steadily declined during the downturn. By 2010, less than 3% were reporting increased sizes, and almost 57% were reporting decreasing home sizes. Since then, the share reporting increases in home sizes has been slowly but steadily increasing. In the current survey, more than 12% are reporting increases. Double this share are reporting that home volumes (e.g., ceiling heights, two-story entryways) are increasing, with less than 10% reporting declines, according to the AIA. The emerging rebound in home sizes is more apparent in some market segments than in others, the AIA pointed out. For upper-end homes, higher shares of respondents are reporting an increase in homes sizes (24%) than are reporting declines (22%). The same is true for additions and remodels to existing homes. However, this is not the case for entrylevel homes, where the share reporting increases is only 4%, with no gains in recent years, the trade association said. In recent years, home design trends have gravitated toward an open space layout, with partial wall divisions that allow more flexibility in the use of space, and a generally greater sense of informality in the home. "Among other things, these home layouts allow more accessible movement throughout the residence," the AIA said. Residential architects again reported accessibility within the home as the trend increasing the most in popularity. Accessibility into and out of the home also was seen as a feature growing in popularity, with over half of respondents indicating that it was increasing. In contrast to the emerging upturn in home sizes, home lot sizes continue to contract, although the smaller lots have not kept households from investing heavily in this space. Creating outdoor living space (outdoor rooms, covered outdoor space, as well as more traditional decks, patios and porches) continues to be the property enhancement growing the most in popularity, with almost 63% of architects re⇧ Open layouts seem to be porting increasing consumer trending upwards according interest, the AIA said. to the AIA, as seen in this "We've seen, over the past kitchen designed by GA-based few years, an increased interBecky Sue Becker, CMKBD, est in seamlessly blending CAPS of Kitchen & Bath indoor and outdoor spaces Designs by BSB. and building in more informal spaces into homes," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. "Because lot sizes don't show any signs of increasing, it's clear that homeowners want to maximize their current square footage to its highest potential, as opposed to increasing it." EAST/SOUTHEAST Joanne Naylor 540 Lee Court Wyckoff, NJ 07481 Phone: 201/891-9170; Fax: 201/839-9161 E-mail: joanne.naylor@cygnus.com Joe May 297 Concord Road Marlborough, MA 01752 Phone: 800/547-7377 x2718 E-mail: joe.may@cygnus.com WEST/SOUTHWEST Kim Carroll 7355 19th Avenue NW Seattle, WA 98117 Phone: 206/781-0714; Fax: 206/473-0724 E-mail: kim.carroll@cygnus.com PRODUCT & LITERATURE SHOWCASE/CLASSIFIED ADS Nancy Campoli 558 Prospect Avenue River Vale, NJ 07675 Phone: 800/547-7377 x6127 E-mail: nancy.campoli@cygnus.com EDITORIAL OFFICES 3 Huntington Quadrangle, Suite 301N Melville, NY 11747 Janice Anne Costa, Editor Tel: 631/963-6233 E-mail: janice.costa@cygnus.com Anita Shaw, Managing Editor Tel: 631/963-6209 E-mail: anita.shaw@cygnus.com Kimberly Berndtson, Senior Editor Tel: 920/563-1722 E-mail: kim.berndtson@cygnus.com CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 1233 Janesville Ave. Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Phone: 631/845-2700; Fax: 631/845-2741 PUBLISHING HEADQUARTERS 3030 W. Salt Creek Lane, Suite 200 Arlington Heights, IL 60005 Eliot Sefrin, Publisher Emeritus E-mail: eliot.sefrin@cygnus.com John Huff, Group Publisher E-mail: john.huff@cygnus.com REPRINT SERVICES For reprints and licensing please contact Nick Iademarco at Wright's Media 877-652-5295 ext. 102 or niademarco@wrightsmedia.com. SUBSCRIPTIONS, BACK ISSUES 1233 Janesville Avenue Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Tel: 920/563-1761; Fax: 920/563-1704 MAILING LIST RENTAL Elizabeth Jackson Tel: 847-492-1350 ext. 18 E-mail: ejackson@meritdirect.com Web site: www.ForResidentialPros.com August 2013 ForResidentialPros.com | 9

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