John Burns Real Estate Consulting reports that some building product manufacturers have been caught off guard by shifting home design preferences.
Rapidly changing new home designs have surprised building product company executives who have not been speaking directly with the home building community. The pronounced home builder shift to fewer rooms and more open space living has reduced finished wall space per sq ft by 8% over the last decade. These design trends also include great rooms and indoor/outdoor spaces with large retractable glass doors.
Several window companies as well as the makers of outdoor remodel products and engineered wood beams have benefited greatly from the shift. The CEO of one of these firms spoke at our 2018 Design Summit right before selling his company at a significant premium.
Some drywall, paint, and baseboard company executives apparently missed this shift, despite its coverage by the industry media. Our most disappointing anecdote was a meeting we had last year with the head of R&D at one of these firms who couldn’t even name one of the large production architect companies in the industry.
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