Special Function Rooms and Features Fall Away as Housing Market
Continues Slow Recovery
Several residential architecture construction sectors begin to stabilize, improving business conditions at residential
architecture design firms.
By Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA
AIA Chief Economist
The U.S. housing market is starting to gain traction. Still,
households have remained hesitant to add space to their
homes through special function rooms, with a few
exceptions such as home offices and mud rooms for the
storage of everyday items. Home features and products that
are attracting attention are generally focused on energy
efficiency or accessibility around the home, as well as
wireless systems and low maintenance, sustainable
products.
These are some of the key findings from the AIA’s Home
Design Trends Survey, covering activity during the second
quarter of 2012. Business conditions continue to trend up for
residential architects, as design billings increased for the
second consecutive month, the first two-quarter increase in
billings since 2007. Even though the growth slowed
somewhat in the second quarter, inquiries for new projects
remained strong. Project backlogs – the amount of design
work in-house and under contract – have been increasing
very slowly, but currently are at their highest level since
early 2008. And while design work for improvements to
existing homes remains very strong, there are signs that key
construction sectors, including entry-level homes, trade-up
homes, and custom and luxury homes, are beginning to
stabilize and may soon move back to an expansion mode.
Optional special function rooms clustered in a few
categories
Even though home sizes appear to be slowly increasing in
most markets and in most housing segments, optional
special function rooms are limited to just a few key uses.
Over a third of residential architects participating in the
Home Design Trends Survey identified home offices as the
most popular special function room at present. With the
continued popularity of telecommuting, with many workers
looking for the option of catching up on work on nights and
weekends, and with a growing share of the labor force
working on a self-employed or contract basis, home offices
continue to be a priority.
Two other areas were reported to be popular special
functions areas of the home. Over one-in-five residential
architects selected mud rooms/drop zones (for backpacks,
outerwear, or even personal electronics) as the most
popular special function room, while almost as many
respondents selected outdoor living areas/outdoor rooms as
the most popular. Both of these selections reflect the
growing informality in lifestyle for the typical household
(figure 1).
Even these areas of the home are not seeing as much an
increase in popularity as they were seeing a year ago.
Likewise, the popularity score for homes offices also
declined a bit. Scores for mud rooms/drop zones increased
slightly over the past year.
Many of the popular special function rooms seen during the
housing boom have all but left the scene during this past
downturn. For example, almost 40 percent of residential
architects reported that media rooms/home theaters are
declining in popularity now, while only 12 percent reported
them to be increasing in popularity. Likewise, 28 percent of
respondents reported exercise/fitness/sauna spaces to be
declining in popularity, with only 13 percent reporting
increases. Even interior greenhouses, which might be
expected to be gaining in popularity with the renewed
interest in gardening and eating locally grown foods, are
declining in popularity (figure 2).
Home features promote sustainability and accessibility
As with trends toward simplicity in special function rooms,
household interest in special features in the home tends to
focus on a few key pragmatic objectives: energy efficiency,
and making the home more accessible for an aging
population. Merely adding some insulation in the attic
remains a hugely popular home feature, as over two-thirds
of respondents report it to be increasing in popularity and
hardly any see it decreasing. Most of the other popular
special features deal with improved accessibility: a first floor
master bedroom, ramps/elevators (including adding a shaft
for a future elevator), easy-to-use features for handles and
faucets, and non-slip floor surfaces.
Many of these features fall under the aging-in-place
category, which allow older residents to remain in their
home as they grow older. As the Baby Boom generation
reaches retirement age, they are more concerned with these
home features. But it’s not just about homeowner
demographics. Given the lack of residential mobility caused
by the plummeting property values seen in the housing crash
of several years ago, many aging households plan to
continue living in their current home for the foreseeable
future (figure 3).
Popular home systems at present are heavily focused on
sustainability. Energy management systems top the list of
features growing the most in popularity, with 52 percent of
respondents reporting them to be growing in popularity, and
only 4 percent reporting declining popularity. Solar panels,
geothermal heating and cooling systems, and water
reclamation systems are all reported to be increasing in
popularity, although they are not mainstream yet in most
markets.
Wireless telecommunications and data systems are just as
popular as energy management systems. The growing
popularity of home offices may be generating more interest
in wireless technology. The two systems that have seen the
greatest gains in popularity are back-up power generation
systems, and electrical docking stations. Growing interest in
back-up power generation is no doubt resulting from the
recent unpredictable weather patterns throughout the
country that have left millions without power for days at a
times. Growing interest in electrical docking stations reflects
the increased popularity in electrical vehicles; still limited,
but building momentum (figure 4).
Home products with low maintenance requirements top the
list of the most popular items. Synthetic and engineered
materials also remain quite popular, in part due to their low
maintenance characteristics. Other popular home products
fall into the sustainability category: energy efficient products
such as triple-glazed windows, tankless or point-of-use water
heaters, water saving or conserving devices such as low-flush
toilets, and recycled or salvaged materials all are high on the
product popularity list. Enhanced lighting/task lighting and
thermal moisture control systems aimed at mold reduction
also were rated as being increasingly popular for households.
(figure 5).
Business conditions trending up
Residential architecture firms have been reporting generally
negative business conditions in the AIA’s Home Design
Trends Survey since the middle of 2007. However, the past
two quarters have seen relatively healthy gains, with the
strongest billings scores since the second quarter of 2007.
Since these figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation,
there may be a back slide in the third or fourth quarters,
even though general market conditions continue to improve.
Inquiries for new work have strengthened significantly over
the past two years. The inquiries index saw slower growth in
the second quarter, most likely because of seasonal trends.
The general upward movement in inquiries suggests that
billings should also continue to move up in the coming
quarters (figure 6).
One sign of improving business conditions is the trend in firm
backlogs. Prior to the housing downturn, residential
architecture firms were averaging about five months of
project backlogs, meaning that they could keep their current
staff employed for about five months with no additional
project activity. During the heart of the downturn, backlogs
declined to an average of under three months. Backlogs have
been slowly climbing back up, reaching 3.8 months on
average during the second quarter of this year. As conditions
continue to improve, backlogs should continue to trend up,
but are unlikely to hit the levels they did during the housing
boom, at least on an ongoing basis (figure 7).
Residential architecture firms in most regions have followed
the national trend of a general upward movement in
business conditions. The one major exception has been
residential architecture firms in the Northeast, which
reported fairly steep declines in billings during the second
half of 2011 and again in the second quarter of 2012. Firms
in the other three major regions have reported healthy
growth in billings through the first half of this year (figure 8).
Improvements to existing homes remain the strongest sector
of the housing market. For both kitchen and bath remodels
as well as additions and alterations to existing homes, over
half of respondents report market conditions to be
improving, while fewer than 10 percent report them to be
weakening.
However, there are finally signs of market conditions
stabilizing for several of the new construction categories.
The first-time buyer/affordable, move-up, custom and luxury
home sectors are all seeing a growing number of
respondents reporting market conditions to be improving.
While all three still have negative scores, these sectors may
be nearing their bottom.
In contrast, market condition scores for
townhouse/condominiums and second/vacation homes still
remain quite negative. For townhouse/condos, fewer than
15 percent of respondents report market conditions to be
improving, while over 40 percent indicate that they are still
weakening. For second/vacation homes, almost 60 percent
report continuing weakening, while fewer than 12 percent
report improvement. These two market sectors are likely to
be the last to see a national recovery (figure 9).
Recent Related:
Turnaround in Home Sizes, In-Home Amenities, and Property Enhancements
Kitchens and Baths Continue to Attract Design Focus
Community Design Trends Emphasize Infill Development
Conditions Stabilizing, with Focus on Energy Efficiency
Reference:
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