Housing Trends

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685

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Portland Real Estate Smaller Houses Predicted For 2011

January 7, 2011 in Housing Trends by Betty Jung | No comments

I have been harping about builders building smaller, single level houses going back to 2008 (or actually 1988) where I’ve been complaining that builders weren’t accommodating that demographic.

Portland Real Estate Smaller Houses Predicted For 2011

Recently I read a New York Times article stating the ranch style is coming back. The ranch, single-level home has never gone out of style and it still remains the most popular floor plan. My buyers run the gamut from young first-time home buyers to the baby-boomers currently looking to purchase single level houses.

Now that one of the largest segments of the market are the baby boomers, the builders are finally catching on and building those smaller, ranch-style homes again. It seems either the economy has forced them to stand up and take notice and/or the largest generation to purchase, has made them realize that is what should be built.

Portland Real Estate New Construction

New construction is at an all time low across the U.S. and here in our Portland real estate market as well. According to the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland there is the potential for a land constraint if and when things do turn around in our economy here in our Portland real estate market. At present there is a four-month inventory of new homes and 8,600 recorded lots in the Portland metro region that haven’t been built on yet. During the boom of a few years ago, builders were going through 10,000 to 12,000 lots a year.

Below is what buyers of new construction will be looking for according to a recent MSN article in 2011 You can read the complete article here.

The Great Recession has limited the bells and whistles that many people demanded under their new roof even four years ago. Would-be home buyers want — and are getting — different things from “home sweet home” today.

Top 6 Trends In New Houses For 2011

Here are the top six things experts say are trendy in new homes for 2011. How does this wish list compare to yours?

Smaller homes that ‘live’ the same

One big trend is the smaller homes. In fact, the median size of new U.S. homes fell from 2,277 square feet in 2007 to 2,135 square feet in 2009, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Buyers are looking for something more modest but still want the amenities and the spaces in these smaller homes.

The overall home size is shrinking 10% to 15%. That, of course, also brings down the price, which is key in a market in which new houses are competing against foreclosures.

The old front porch, revisited

Front and side porches are making a comeback. One reason is simple: Front porches help create a sense of community, something that more traditional suburbs lack.

A ‘greener’ home

Not surprisingly, energy efficiency is one of the year’s hottest trends. Efficiency takes many forms, from builders adding insulation in the walls, to better windows with glazing and higher “R-value” — or insulation ability — to sealed duct work that doesn’t leak air, to Energy Star-rated appliances throughout the home. Some builders are even installing low-energy LED lights for accent lighting.

There is a premium that builders are paying for these products but they’re doing their best not to pass along all the cost to the consumers.

No ‘upstairs, downstairs’ drama

Single-story homes remain popular. Why? It’s simple: As the baby boomers age, such homes are easier for older folks to navigate. They’re also easier for aged friends or parents to visit, too.

The down-scaled kitchen and bath

Our desire for big kitchens and bathrooms ballooned during the boom years, and home builders were happy to oblige. That’s changing. Functionality is now preferred to more and larger kitchens and bathrooms within U.S. homes.

A home that serves you well

Buyers are looking for value and how features contribute to the efficiency of their lifestyle. That’s why “walk-in closets in master bedrooms and well-designed laundry rooms are likely candidates to repeat as the most likely features for 2011.

Interested in new construction?

I’d be happy to send you the info just email me at:bettyjung.rebroker (at) gmail.com

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685

How Can A SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) Help You?

Portland Real Estate New Home Trends New Construction

July 18, 2010 in Housing Trends by Betty Jung | No comments

Portland Real Estate New Home Trends New Construction

Some highlights from 2009 as presented at the 2010 National Home Builders Show are:

Portland Real Estate New Home Trends New Construction

National Home Builders Show

Average home size is smaller. The average home size was smaller last year for the 1st time in over twenty years.

One level homes are the most popular. The two story and multi-levels homes have decreased in popularity.

Energy efficient features are high on the priority list. Homeowners want energy efficiency in their appliances, insulated doors and low E windows, modern HVAC systems and programmable thermostats, radiant barriers and water conserving toilets.

Storage spaces. Master bedroom walk in closets, linen closets and a dedicated laundry rooms are desired in all price ranges. 3 car garages are still in demand.

Open floor plans with 9 to 10 foot ceilings.

No longer desired and no longer at the top of buyers “wish” list are:

Granite countertops

Walk-in pantry

Outdoor kitchens

If you’ve been following my blog, many of the above have been voiced by me in my new construction posts as well. I’ve been harping in favor of smaller houses, single-level one-story homes, and I’ve certainly said granite is old news back in 2008!

Recovery Of The Housing Market

According to the National Association of REALTORS® recent housing report on Portland for Q1 2010, new construction is lagging here by 59.7% and that jobs and unemployment are a big factor on the recovery of our housing market. Somewhere recently I read that Habitat for Humanity is now the nation’s largest home builder and that their foreclosure rate is practically nil.

Lumber prices have been dropping which indicates that the global economic recovery and the U.S. housing rebound are in danger of stalling. Further, a recent report indicates that new home sales have not been this low since 1963. There was also a report that said banks are in fact selling more new construction than builders due to all those abandoned subdivisions. There isn’t anyone building rental property currently either according to CNN.money.

Interested in buying new construction?

Want to know where new housing subdivisions are located? Give me a call at 503-804-9685.

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685

How Can A SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) Help You?

Portland Real Estate Small Small And Smaller Houses

May 17, 2010 in Housing Trends by Betty Jung | No comments

Portland Real Estate Small Small And Smaller Houses

When I first started writing my blogs, I wrote about Ikea’s small floor plans and how they furnished them. I am in favor of smaller houses being built, mainly because of affordability, seniors and boomers needing them, and because I feel the McMansion craze got out of hand.

This Is Downsizing

The other day I saw this slideshow of a small cottage that was renovated into a charming home. It might give you some ideas should you want to downsize or live in less sq. ft.

If you really want to downsize, take a look at this 330 sq. ft. apartment that actually transforms into 24 different living spaces.

Lots of possibilities!

Interested in a small house?

There are many single level houses with smaller sq. ft. in our Portland real estate market. Give me a call at 503-804-9685 and I can help you.

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685

How Can A SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) Help You?

Portland Real Estate Builders To Go Smaller

October 11, 2009 in Housing Trends by Betty Jung | No comments

The Home Builders Association in Portland reported recently that sales dropped in August over July and overall sales for the first eight months of the year were down 15 percent over the same time period in 2008. The higher-end markets tend to be lagging as well with Lake Oswego-West Linn being the “dog of the market right now”, said the group. The builder’s group also says we’ve bottomed out for homes at $350,000 or less, but the higher you go in the market, the worse the conditions are. For the upper price range, time will tell.

Portland Real Estate Builders To Go Smaller

There is a lot of new home building activity at the top of the hill in Oregon City: new excavation, framing and other positive signs of movement. As reported in one of my posts, builders are now keeping busy building on in-fill lots around the area. I also have heard rumors that METRO towards the end of the year is not planning on expanding the urban growth boundary which means builders will be scrambling for lots when the market improves and/or continuing to build on those in-fill lots.

Portland Homebuilders Association

The Homebuilders Association also says they have seen the inventory of lots decline. Existing (lot) sales are continuing at a good pace and there haven’t been many new lot listings come on the market for sale. Some lots are being transferred back to banks from builders, and the amount of spec homes on the market has dropped noticeably from 1900 unsold spec homes in April of 2008 to 1,079 in mid September. The builders group says that it is a good sign and that the region is working its way through some of its existing inventory. Maybe it took this Great Recession for these big builders to finally figure it all out.

Portland Real Estate Smaller Houses On The Horizon?

Don’t you think it’s about time builders construct small houses?

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685

How Can A SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) Help You?

Portland Real Estate Is Smaller A Trend

May 28, 2009 in Housing Trends by Betty Jung | No comments

I’ve written many posts about seniors and boomers wanting smaller homes. Over this past year I even got on my “soapbox” to reiterate my views. Now comes a report from Portland State University that says small may just be a fad and temporary trend, and says people will start buying the “McMansions” once again after this financial meltdown and recession are over.

Portland Real Estate Is Smaller A Trend

In another post, I read a contradictory report saying just the opposite from RIS Media.

“So, here we are in the future we once imagined. No robot vacuuming the floor, our SUVs are bigger than a 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark V, and our homes have earned the title, “McMansions” by swelling from an average of 950 square feet to about 2,400. And, in many moderate wage communities, homes of 6,000 to 7,000 square feet are common.

Why? Well, because we wanted them, for one thing. They were the ultimate status symbol and maybe always will be. If a man’s home is his castle, it darn well better feel like one.

As much as a castle-sized home is a status symbol, it is also a symbol of wretched excess and the general contempt of its owner for those of us being crushed under the boot-heels of his enormous carbon footprint. Free market economy or not, no one is entitled to such a gluttonous amount of the planet’s limited resources.

Most of the homes built in the last 20 years are bigger than they really need to be. They consume too many resources to create the materials, the building process has too much negative impact on the surrounding environment, they require too much energy to occupy and they do not guarantee happiness.”

Portland Real Estate And Small Houses

I tend to agree, naturally, with the RIS Media story because I’ve been holding open houses for most of my 34 years selling real estate on Sundays. This past weekend – Memorial Day weekend – I once again held an open house at one of my listings. And, as in the past, I had buyers looking to downsize, wanting the master bedroom on the main level or single level with quality construction and smaller in Lake Oswego. Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe it’s the trend for now because of this recession. However, I have seen buyers wanting that for the entire time I’ve been selling real estate with no good options from builders here in Portland. Time will tell….

Thinking Of Downsizing?

Give me a call at 503-804-9684.

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685

How Can A SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) Help You?

Portland Real Estate Baby Boomers Impact Future Housing Market

January 23, 2009 in Housing Trends by Betty Jung | No comments

A Wall Street Journal article said no one can assess the outlook for housing without considering the effects of the 77+ million Baby Boomers.

Portland Real Estate Baby Boomers Impact Future Housing Market

Some housing experts believe boomers will be much less likely than their parents to settle for sun and golf in retirement; they may prefer urban settings with lots of cultural life or to live closer to friends and family. That could mean higher demand and increased prices for housing in urban neighborhoods.

Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at the University of Southern California, warns the retirement of boomers over the next two decades is likely to depress house prices in many areas. As boomers relocate to retirement homes, there will be a lot more sellers than buyers in parts of the country. It’s going to really mess up the housing market. He predicts that this “generational correction” will be larger and longer-lasting than the current housing slump.

Increasing Numbers Of Aging Baby Boomers

To get a sense of the effects of aging boomers, Mr. Myers looked at the number of Americans 65 and over per 1,000 working-age people. He sees that number increasing to 318,000 in year 2020, 411,000 in 2030, up from 238,000 in 2000. Many people over 65 buy homes but as they get older become more likely to sell than buy. People 75 to 79 are more than three times as likely to be sellers than buyers. In some areas, younger people will be happy to buy (and probably renovate) those boomer nests. The problem will be in places where lots of older people are selling and fewer young people are settling down. He says the effects will be strongest in the “coldest, most congested and most expensive states rather than the high-growth states of the South or West.” Among the states where Mr. Myers sees downward pressure on prices within the next decade: Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts.

Baby Boomers And McMansions

On the opposite side of the coin, there was a report that said the size of houses has grown by 50% and that our current recession would do nothing to change the McMansions or 4+ bedroom houses. Consumers still want larger homes despite our hard economic times. However. the one thing this article failed to consider unlike the Wall Street Journal article, in my opinion, is how the 77+ million Baby Boomers will impact the future of housing. What do you think?

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685

How Can A SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) Help You?

Portland Real Estate Shopping Malls For Senior Housing

January 12, 2009 in Housing Trends by Betty Jung | No comments

Retail reports for the holidays were bleak. Records show it was the worst Christmas for retailers since 1969.

Portland Real Estate Shopping Malls For Senior Housing

Reports say that malls are facing bankruptcy or loss of businesses. Some of those have said malls may become future homes to new housing. Here’s a Housing Wire article where malls have already become housing with more predicted.

Shopping Malls To Be Reconfigured For Senior Housing?

CNBC says commercial real estate will be taking a big hit in 2009. The Oregonian Front Porch blog stated:

Mall vacancies approach 10-year high: Bloomberg reports that vacancies at U.S. malls and shopping centers approached 10-year highs in the fourth quarter, and are set to rise further as declining retail sales put more stores out of business. Regional mall vacancies rose to 7.1 percent last quarter from 6.6 percent in the third quarter. It was the highest vacancy rate since Reis began tracking regional malls in 2000, as well as the largest quarter-to-quarter jump in vacancies, according to New York-based Reis. It hasn’t helped that Circuit City Stores Inc., Linens ‘n Things Inc. and Sharper Image Corp., all filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008. “So much of consumer spending depends on the wealth effect,” said Victor Calanog, director of research at Reis. “Unfortunately, all three conditions are still in flux. Even when they stabilize we often observe anywhere from a 12- to 24- month lag until commercial retail properties begin benefiting.” (Via Calculated Risk).

Another recent article in the Oregonian stated in part “General Growth Properties Inc. the country’s second-largest mall owner, last month hired a commercial real estate firm to put prominent retail centers in Boston, New York and Baltimore up for sale in a desperate attempt to shore up its finances. The Chicago-based company is saddled with huge amounts of debt it took on during the market’s boom when it aggressively bought assets. General Growth owns more than 20 shopping malls, including Pioneer Place in Portland, Clackamas Town Center in Happy Valley, Rogue Valley Mall in Medford, Salem Center in Salem and the Gateway Mall in Springfield.”

Portland Area Shopping Malls

Several reports say that indoor shopping malls are becoming white elephants and “destination” type centers such as Bridgeport Village, Streets of Tanasbourne (Oregon), and Victoria Gardens (California) will be the type of shopping “hot” spots in the future.

What will become, if anything, of Clackamas Town Center which is currently facing financial problems? I’m not suggesting it will become housing, but no one knows what the future has “in store”. In Oregon with our rain, I can’t imagine an indoor shopping mall becoming obsolete. Yet, could senior housing be built at Washington Square? The above got me thinking about areas that would make great senior or “boomer” type housing locations. This is certainly not to suggest I know anything more than the above.

What Do You Think About Living In A Shopping Mall?

Good idea or not? Will the era of shopping centers and strip malls on every corner become a fad from the past and time of excess? Will that phrase “Shop Until You Drop” become game-show trivia?

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685

How Can A SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) Help You?

Portland Real Estate Houses Are Shrinking

November 23, 2008 in Housing Trends by Betty Jung | No comments

California may be a trendsetter yet again.

Portland Real Estate Houses Are Shrinking

Recently I read an article where KB Homes (the builder that Martha Stewart partners with) has started building smaller, single-level homes. It sounds as if it is partly because of the current state of our economy. I hope other builders, however, will pick up on this as well.

Street Of Dreams 2009

I’ve read that the Street of Dreams 2009 will be held in Lake Oswego, Oregon. A past Street that was held in Lake Oswego was one of HBA’s most popular. In 2009, I hear those builders who showcase their homes will be scaling back in size and price.

In an article about Randy Sebastian (Renaissance Homes), I read where he has plans to build a “boomer” type subdivision in Wilsonville. However, because of his bankruptcy, time will only tell if that ever gets completed. This could be a start! Hopefully I can get off my soapbox soon. Here’s what the article said:

Home Sizes Shrink to Lure Buyers

Home builders are reducing the size and options available to appeal to buyers with less money to spend and who are facing a harder time getting financing.

Los Angeles-based KB Homes had shrunk its homes from 3,400 square feet, selling for $450,000, to 2,400 square feet selling for $300,000 to appeal to buyers. Now, it’s shrinking its homes yet again–1,230 square feet priced at about $200,000

Other builders, including Warmington Homes and John Laing Homes, have taken similar approaches.

We’re getting back to more the way things were historically, kind of undoing the excesses, not just from a price perspective but home size and (fewer amenities), says Nishu Sood, a Deutsche Bank analyst.

The new KB Homes aren’t just smaller, they are more efficiently designed, says Steve Ruffner, president of KB Home’s Southern California Coastal Division.

“You could have a three-bedroom, 2,500 square-foot single-story home and all you had was wide hallways and bigger rooms. It wasn’t really giving [buyers] the utility,” Ruffner says.

Source: The Associated Press, Alex Veiga

Economy Affects Size Of Houses

As I’ve stated in another post, typically when the economy is bad, people from the outlying suburbs want to move closer to town. Also, what we typically see during times like this is that the larger homes don’t sell and people have a tendency to want to purchase the smaller houses. Builders may be sitting with their new construction inventory of McMansions for a while yet, or at least while the economy is in a downward trend.

When I went to file my income taxes in October, my accountant told me he knows of many people that have said to him that as soon as the economy picks up they will be unloading their big houses, big fancy cars and excesses and they are just waiting on the side-lines for their financial situations to improve. They all felt it just wasn’t worth the expense any longer.

Want To Move To A Smaller Portland Home?

Give me a call at 503-804-9685 and I can help.

Betty Jung

RE/MAX equity group

503-804-9685