The housing rebound continues, but its effect hasn’t been evenly distributed across the spectrum of housing types and price-points. In 2006, Multifamily represented only 16% of residential starts but surged to 35% of starts in 2015, bringing a new character to the market for home building materials. In 2016, however, while we saw a modest return to pre-2006 markets when Move-up and Starter homes ruled, Multifamily began inching its way back down from its peak the year before.
Like most data points in the building industry, insulation material usage varies widely by geographic area, the size and type of builder, and types of homes. The national survey of builders we conducted in February, 2017 sheds further light on usage patterns—confirming some stereotypes about insulation usage in new homes, but it also seems to refute others, lending insight into the market for insulation materials and systems.
The results of Home Innovation’s annual survey of 110,000 U.S. households are in. Helped by declining prices in recent years (and the fact that Mother Nature knows how to produce some beautiful countertop material), granite is still the best-selling kitchen countertop by a sizeable margin – accounting for about 40% of home countertop replacements in 2016.
Recently, I shared results from our builder survey on foam wall sheathing and how its use varied by builder type, price point and type of home, and geographic areas. Now I’d like to share a few things we learned about usage patterns in thickness of foam sheathing in the same survey.
Over the past few years, a lot has been said and written about continuous foam insulation in new homes, including the writing of the new building code requirements.
While we're all happy to see the rebound of the housing market underway, smart companies aren't just watching the volume of housing starts, but also the mix of home types built. In many ways, the mix can have a bigger impact on building materials purchased than does the total number of new homes.
Keeping up-to-date is critical in order to capitalize on trends and avoid being stung when your product category takes an unexpected dive. Data from our 2016 Builder Practices Reports shows some changes underway that you need to know.
Keeping up-to-date is critical in order to capitalize on trends and avoid being stung when your product category takes an unexpected dive. Data from our 2016 Consumer Practices Survey shows some unexpected changes underway that you need to know.
For the first time since 2013, Home Innovation Research Labs is conducting the Canadian Builder Practices Survey, a study that quantifies home builder purchases of building materials. With the Canadian new home market shifting strongly from single- to multifamily, it's more important than ever to keep up on building products purchases there.
According to Home Innovation Research Labs' Annual Builder Practices Survey, a shift in homebuyer demographics and builder buying and building habits has created a significant shift away from spray foam insulation across the board — in walls, floors, and roofs and in each of the four Census Regions. While a one-year shift in building product usage data does not constitute a real trend, this may be signaling a change in the home insulation landscape.
After a two-year field investigation, the NAHB Research has identified some optimal building practices for preventing excessive moisture content in wood framing members and structural sheathing.