New-home trends - All the comforts of home

Today's newly built homes are substantially larger and packed with more amenities than their predecessors of 30 years ago, according to annual data on new-home characteristics released by the U.S. Census Department. In a statement that follows nearly in its entirety, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) observed that the portion of new homes built with central air conditioning has risen 43 percent, while the portion of homes built with fewer than two bathrooms has fallen from 41 percent to just 4 percent between 1975 and 2005." Noted Jerry Howard, chief executive officer, "Meanwhile, the share of newly built homes with four or more bedrooms has risen steadily from 21 percent 30 years ago to just shy of 40 percent last year."

The statistics, along with NAHB research on several additional trends, provide a snapshot of changing aspects of home design over the past 30 years, including the continued expansion of new-home size through 2005. The average floor area in a newly built home last year reached an all-time high of 2,434 square feet - up from an average 2,349 square feet in 2004 and just 1,645 square feet in 1975. The Northeast had the largest average new-home size for any region last year, at 2,556 square feet. New homes in the Midwest had the smallest square footage, with an average of 2,310 square feet.

The report also revealed important trends in the type of exterior wall material used for newly completed houses. In general, the use of brick and wood exteriors has declined as stucco and vinyl siding have become more popular through the years - with vinyl siding now the most-used wall exterior. Brick exteriors on newly built homes declined from 32 percent to 20 percent of the market between 1975 and 2005, while wood exteriors declined from 36 percent to 7 percent.

Use of stucco as exterior wall material went from 10 percent of new homes in 1975 to 22 percent in 2005, and use of vinyl siding, which was previously not broken out in the Census data, went from 23 percent of homes in 1992 to 34 percent in 2005. Vinyl siding is particularly popular in the Northeast, where 83 percent of newly built homes last year had the material.

"Brick is still very popular as an exterior material in many areas," Howard added, "but primarily because of the high cost of labor, builders have increasingly limited its use to the front of the home. The Census data only reflects the exterior material that's on more than 50 percent of a home's surface area."

The data also show evidence of the increasing popularity of heat pumps versus conventional warm air furnaces, particularly in the South. Overall, warm air furnaces remain the most popular heating systems in the U.S. - accounting for 67 percent of the new-homes market in 2005, down from 72 percent of the market back in 1975. The decline in that market appears entirely due to construction practices in the South, where use of warm air furnaces fell from 82 percent of new homes to 47 percent over the past 30 years and where heat pumps now command over half the market (53 percent).

An important trend in home design that's been highlighted by NAHB builder surveys over the years is increasing ceiling height. More than half of all newly built single-family homes in 2004 - 58 percent - had nine-foot or higher ceilings on the first floor. This is up from an estimated 15 percent of homes with such features 30 years ago.

Another place where home buyers are getting extra space is in their garages. Census data collected since 1991 indicates that the percentage of homes built with garages for three or more cars has doubled, from 10 percent in 1991 to 20 percent in 2005. Meanwhile, NAHB data reveal that garage-door sizes are expanding to accommodate the increasing size of vehicles like SUVs that owners are parking in those spaces. The typical door for a single-car garage bay used to measure about 7 by 9 feet, but the trend is now toward 8 by 10-foot garage doors.

One thing that has shrunk over the years is lot size, which Census data shows has dropped from a median of about 10,000 square feet in 1990 to 8,500 square feet today. But because of the rising cost of developed lots, the share of home price that can be attributed to the lot on which that home is built hasn't changed - it's still about 25 percent.

Some important trends revealed in the Census report include the following:

Central Air Conditioning

• Between 1975 and 2005, the percentage of homes built with AC went from 46 percent to 89 percent.
  
• 100 percent of newly built homes in the South came with central AC in 2005.

Bathrooms

• As of 2005, just over one quarter of newly constructed homes (26 percent) were built with three or more bathrooms - up from an estimated 5 percent in 1975.
  
• The portion of homes built with 1.5 bathrooms or fewer has declined from 41 percent to just 4 percent over the past 30 years.

Bedrooms

• The percentage of new homes built with two bedrooms orfewer in 1975 remains virtually the same as of 2005. (It's gone from 14 percent to 12 percent).
  
• The greatest percentage of new homes are still built with three bedrooms (as has been the case for the past three decades), but the portion of homes built with four or more bedrooms has risen steadily from 21 percent in 1975 to 39 percent in 2005.

Fireplaces

• The proportion of new homes built with at least one fireplace has barely increased over the past three decades, going from 52 percent to 55 percent.

Outdoor features

• Statistics collected as far back as 1992 indicate a growing trend toward including porches and/or patios in new-home designs and a smaller share of homes built with decks.
  
• Between 1992 and 2005, the proportion of newly built homes with patios increased from 37 percent to 46 percent, while the proportion of new homes with porches rose from 42 percent to 53 percent. In the same time frame, the share of homes built with decks declined from 37 percent to 27 percent.
  
• The Northeast was the only region to show an increasing affinity for homes built with decks, recording an 18 percent gain in this amenity (from 25 percent to 43 percent) since 1992.

Number of stories

• The proportion of one-story newly built homes has declined from 65 percent in 1975 to 44 percent in 2005.
  
• But the proportion of newly built homes with two or more stories has increased from 23 percent to 55 percent.
  
• The use of "split level" designs has been virtually eliminated, having gone from 12 percent of the new-homes market in 1975 to less than 1 percent in 2005.

Garages

• The proportion of newly built homes with garages for three or more cars doubled between 1991 and 2005, reaching 20 percent last year.