More than a third of builders who raised their curb appeal game during the past year did so by offering window options with more styles and frame colors or by reworking the elevations of their existing house plans. Other builders said they invested by hiring an architect or by using Revit and other 3-D modeling software.
But for every respondent like the Maryland custom home builder who is adding options “because customers are becoming more interested in rear yards, pools, and patios,” there were participants who are feeling squeezed, such as the Canadian production home builder who, to reduce his homes’ selling price, has moved away from using stone and fiber-cement materials, or the Illinois modular/manufactured home builder who offers many choices but sees clients sticking with basic exterior selections because “affordability is becoming harder to obtain.”
Almost 55 percent of participants in Professional Builder’s 2018 Curb Appeal Survey agreed that for selling new construction, it’s more important today compared with two years ago to offer elevations that incorporate multiple exterior materials. Eighty-eight percent of builders and architects currently build or design with multiple exterior cladding materials on individual homes. More findings are in the charts that follow.
Related Stories
Market Data + Trends
5 Housing Market Trends that Shaped 2020, According to Realtors
The National Association of Realtors’ Confidence Index Survey asks Realtors about the top housing market trends they are experiencing on the local…
Market Data + Trends
Buyers are Optimistic for Purchasing in 2021 as Pent-Up Demand Grows
Stress brought on by 2020 may be fading for some 28 million optimistic Americans who are considering buying this year. According to a NerdWallet…
Single-Family Homes
Top Three Metros With the Fastest Rising Home Prices
Recent indices released this week found home prices skyrocketed in November at a rate just under 10%. For the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-…