A couple weeks ago, we first posted the findings of a December survey of 300 builders regarding their attitudes towards numerous off-site housing technologies. Specifically, we asked if they plan to increase their use of any of these systems within the coming year and anticipate increasing their use in the coming 5 years. The findings helped us gauge the rate at which builders intend to pursue various off-site alternatives. For industry suppliers, knowing your potential markets is crucial for developing successful market entry and expansion strategies.
Off-site construction. We’ve all heard the buzz about builders moving to this “new” way of building, especially in light of the current skilled trade deficit in our industry. But what are home builders actually planning to do about it this year? Or even in the next five years? There are a lot of contenders in the off-site space, but where is the market actually headed?
Updating kitchens and bathrooms is a sure-fire way to signal that an existing home has been kept current and is market ready — but simply installing new fixtures will not necessarily do the trick. Just because something is readily available to purchase, does not mean that it is in style or on trend. Having access to data on long-term and recent usage patterns is the best way to understand current trends and forecast future ones.
Speaking at the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association’s (NLBMDA’s) ProDealer Industry Summit in Chicago earlier this month, Home Innovation’s Director of Market Research Ed Hudson presented analysis on the market for materials used in the construction of new homes and remodeling.
Speaking at the Composite Lumber Manufacturers Association meeting earlier this month, Ed Hudson, Home Innovation’s Director of Market Research, shared his expertise on the market for outdoor structure materials used for building decks, railing, and fences based on data from our Annual Builder and Consumer Practices Surveys.
It’s no secret that wood flooring has become very popular in new homes and can be found in nearly every room in the house, particularly in the main living and entertaining areas of homes. Current interior design trends lean toward cost-effective products with a more luxurious, furnished appearance in these areas, and wood or wood look-alikes readily fit the bill. Over the past several years, new technologies have made many wood and wood look-alikes less expensive, more resistant to scratching and impact, able to withstand wet environments, easy-to-install, and very attractive. Engineered wood flooring has now surpassed solid wood flooring in new homes, and the new LVT category continues to push the wood look into moisture-sensitive and higher functioning areas of the home. LVT flooring products can enhance a home’s interior with the warmth, richness, and texture of more expensive, luxurious hardwood flooring. Since laminate has made only small inroads into new homes, LVT has already garnered nearly 4% of total new home flooring installations.
The U.S. residential roofing is big. Based on Home Innovation’s Annual Builder and Consumer Practices Reports, about 17.5 billion square feet of it was installed on homes last year. The reports also concluded that nearly 85% of total residential roofing volume is installed on existing homes as either a full or partial replacement of existing material. On average, the age of the existing roofing in full replacement was slightly more than 19 years. About one-third replaced their roof because of leaking; one third because of storm damage; and, one quarter anticipated roof failure in the near future due to a deteriorating roof. Only 3 percent stated they wanted to improve the appearance of their house, and 2 percent claimed a pre-mature failure.
What constitutes a trend in building products? Is something “on trend” because an interior designer says it is? Or because it’s all the rage at a kitchen and bath trade show? Or because it makes an episode of a home improvement TV program? Not necessarily. While those things may deem a product to be “trendy,” they do not truly constitute a trend. I’ve seen several home remodeling “design trend” articles recently that were very interesting and enlightening, but also contradictory in describing what’s becoming more popular in the market according to our data. The biggest disconnect I’ve seen seems to be in the discussion of faucet finishes. If you just looked at just a handful of those articles, you’d swear that all new faucets were bronze, and that neither chrome nor stainless steel finished faucets exists anymore.
Since the introduction of our NGBS Green Certification program in 2009, close to 150,000 homes and apartments have become certified. As of August 2018, there were an additional 120,000 homes in-process for certification. The program has shown steady growth year after year; based on strong growth for the first half of 2018, the program is once again on target to see an increase in the annual number of units certified.
According to data from Home Innovation’s 2018 Annual Builder Practices Survey, more new homes are getting side & rear porches and decks than in past years, but fewer are getting on-grade patios. The inclusion of front porches and stoops on new homes, however, has fairly stable over the past decade.
Concrete homes are not new, and in a lot of places throughout the world they wouldn’t be described as particularly “fashionable” or trendy. There is concrete in nearly every home in the United States, particularly at the ground level and below, while above-grade portions of most residential structures are built primarily with structural wood framing. Less than 10% of new U.S. homes are constructed with above-ground concrete walls, and that hasn’t changed much over the past few decades though there has been a bit of ebb and flow.
Speaking at the WDMA Technical & Manufacturing Conference in Minneapolis last week, Home Innovation’s Director of Market Research Ed Hudson shared his expertise on the market for fenestration products, based on data from our Annual Builder and Consumer Practices Surveys.
Speaking at AMI’s Profiles 2018 conference in Pittsburgh earlier this month, Home Innovation’s Director of Market Research Ed Hudson shared his expert opinions on all things plastic and home building-related, based on data from our Annual Builder and Consumer Practices Surveys. Below is a link to his full presentation on how to capitalize on developments on profiles for window, door, decking, fencing, and siding applications.
Home Innovation’s 2018 Builder Practices Survey continues to reveal many new trends (and trend reversals). We touched on the interesting changes underway in the housing mix in the last Trends post. Our ongoing dive into the Annual Builder Practices Survey data has pointed to other fascinating market shifts, as well.
The turmoil of the mid-2000’s housing market bust and Great Recession set major changes in motion for the new home market. In fact, even now we’re still trying to sort out whether it will return to its old, familiar pattern or if we’re seeing the “new normal.”
Now that spring is officially in the air – along with plenty of pollen – it’s time to share some of the findings from our 2018 Consumer Practices Survey (CPS) on outdoor living.
The CPS is a survey of 110,000 U.S. and Canadian households that tracks hundreds of remodeling activities and materials purchases. The results of this year’s survey are now being tabulated, allowing us to see how trends in repair and remodeling purchases and activities are unfolding.
The “skill” in the construction industry’s Skilled Labor Shortage is driving market change, favoring skills-reducing and efficiency-improving innovations. More and more, this is not just a matter of simply moving the work from the jobsite to the factory. Rather, many opportunities for manufacturers seem to lie in creating technologies that can maximize efficiencies for both skilled and unskilled laborers on site, while not eliminating either role.
There is an adage that says in any household, the things you have tend to accumulate to fill the space available for its storage. This certainly holds true in most American households. Though there are many who would say they don’t fit the stereotype, materialism and excess are often considered very “American” traits. And along with all the stuff we accumulate, comes the need to store it. Despite having the biggest homes in the world, more closets on average than any other country, as well as the most garages, somehow, we still never seem to have enough space to put everything.
The home re-roofing market is massive — about 16 billion square feet of existing residential roof was re-covered last year – and the majority of re-covers get at least one layer of roofing underlayment. An additional 3 billion square feet of new roofing underlayment was installed on new U.S. homes in 2017. As a roofing material, asphalt shingles have been dominant for decades, and there’s very little threatening that lead position. However, underneath those shingles and other roofing materials, there is a lot of change underway.
There’s no doubt that Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) is a rapidly-growing option in home re-flooring. According to Home Innovation’s 2018 Consumer Practices Survey (CPS), it now represents more than 6% of this 14 billion square-foot-per-year market just a few years after its introduction. Why this rapid success? Well, according to its manufacturers, LVT is durable. It’s easy to maintain. It’s beautiful. It’s easy to install. And it’s more comfortable underfoot that some other flooring products. But knowing which rooms consumers are installing it in gives us insight into the key drivers of this burgeoning trend.
The trend toward building more green homes and apartments continues unabated, and with it comes a growing desire by builders to have their homes certified green. The majority of both single- and multifamily builders cite the availability of green products as the single biggest driver for future green home construction. Builders want to build green homes, but they know that the ability to find and afford green building products is critical to their success. Check out what we found in a recent survey when builders were asked about awareness of green certification programs and their effect on building products purchases.
In our January 2018 Omnibus Survey, the 300 home builder respondents told us if they do or do not use integrated construction management software for their businesses. In a previous post, I discussed which software products respondents indicated they’re using and why. Here, I’ll go into a bit more detail on what functions are being used most by those who use integrated software solutions, as well as what keeps others from using it at all.
Home Innovation recently prepared and included some questions on integrated construction management software usage among builders in an Omnibus Survey. The results are interesting. Find out more about who is using this software most and why.
It’s well-known that the home building industry is slow to change, but some important building product changes have managed to take hold. How do you know whether your product will be a success or failure? There’s no simple answer to that, but Ed Hudson's recent presentation from the 2018 International Builders' Show sheds some light on the topic by summarizing industry trends over the past decade. With those trends comes some insight into things building product manufacturers should—and, perhaps more importantly, should not – do in their new product introductions.