Trends

Find out what our research experts view as important changes and trends in homes and building products.

December 28, 2018

The Who, Where & When of Off-Site Construction Technologies

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

December 14, 2018

December Survey of Builders Reveals Quickening Pace in Transitioning to Off-Site Construction Solutions

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?

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

November 20, 2018

Don’t Be a Drip! Keep Up with Plumbing Fixture Trends

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

October 30, 2018

Are We There Yet? Tracking Housing Industry’s “Wild Ride”

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

October 22, 2018

No Slumber for Composite Lumber

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

October 5, 2018

Wood-Finish Flooring Flourishing

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

September 28, 2018

Roofing Market Trends? We’ve Got You Covered (and Re-covered)

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

September 7, 2018

Nickel for Your Thoughts … or Your Faucets? Remodeling Finish Trends

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

August 31, 2018

NGBS Green Certifications See Steady Growth

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Green Building, Energy Performance

August 17, 2018

Who’s on Deck? Outdoor Living Data Reveals Dramatic Swing in Builder Choice of Surface Materials

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

August 10, 2018

Concrete Evidence: Trends in Luxury Homes, Others in the Future?

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

June 29, 2018

Home Innovation Shares Expert Insights on Fenestration at WDMA Conference

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

June 21, 2018

Home Innovation Shares Expert Insights on Plastics at PROFILES 2018

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

June 12, 2018

Builder Survey Data: It’s What’s on The Inside (& Outside) That Counts

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

June 1, 2018

New Housing Mix: Are You In or Out of the Big Picture?

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.”

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

May 18, 2018

Consumer Spending Trends in Outdoor Living Spaces

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

May 3, 2018

Labor Shortage Leads to Growth Opportunities in Skills-Reducing, Efficiency-Improving Technologies

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

April 12, 2018

Where Are We Stuffing All Our Stuff?!

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

April 6, 2018

New Survey Data: Roofing Underlayment Market Report

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

March 30, 2018

Luxury Vinyl Tile Making Big Inroads—But Where?

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

February 14, 2018

Continuing Growth in Green Building, Good News for Manufacturers

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Green Building, Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

February 7, 2018

Why Builders Use (or Do Not Use) Integrated Construction Management Software

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

February 1, 2018

What Software Are Builders Using … and Why?

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research

January 25, 2018

Trends and Opportunities in the U.S. Building Products Market

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.

Continue Reading

Tagged:
Data and Trends, Homebuyer Preferences, Building Products, Marketing, Survey Research