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Are we developing housing products for the current and future market or just repackaging the same product in smaller and cheaper packages? Is price point all that really matters or does new design requires a retooling of innovative thinking accounting for our morphing demographic. Who currently lives in the homes of today and will reside in the homes of tomorrow?

• 3.3% Silent Generation (age 81 >)
• 9.7% Depression and War Babies (65-80)
• 24.6% Baby Boomers (46-64)
• 17.2% Generation X (33-45)
• 25.0% Generation Y (15-32)
• 20.1% Generation Next (< 15)

Only 23% of our households will be made up of married or partnered couples with children at home. Singles or couples will be the majority of households. WINKS (women with incomes and no children ) will become a dominant real estate driver in urban markets. Foreign-born residents are becoming a larger market force in rural and suburban markets with their larger families. Real estate paradigms are shifting. Housing designs will need to adjust to the new social, economic, and environmental forces.

SO WHAT ARE THE DESIGN REQUIREMENTS OF THE NEW HOME ?

• EFFICIENT The age of excess is coming to an end for the savvy consumer. Homes will be smaller and more efficient not just because of the current economic downtrend. As the world’ s resources shrink, material costs will increase, and energy cost will require consumption reduction . Homeowners will require more from less.
• GREEN Green construction practices and techniques will be the standard of the future. Not from a moral perspective but from a pragmatic one. Energy cost, quality of life , and environmental impact are and always will be unavoidable.
• SOCIAL As social networking increase ,so will the requirement of homes as social centers. While the need for material excess might decline, the increased requirement for technological integration increases. Open floor plans must work around smart home technologies that control lighting, mechanical heating and cooling systems , monitor energy consumption, as well as your personal computer, music system, and flat screen 3D TV. Designs need to work at intimate personal level as well as for social gatherings of family and friends.
• LOW MAINTENANCE Owners want to spend their time on activities other than maintaining their properties. Yet the materials used should still evoke a sense of quality and character that are sustainable well into the future.
• FLEXIBLE Floor plans and structures should be designed to be flexible to account for life changes. Health restrictions, marriage, children, divorce, etc.
• STYLE Being in style is ingrained within our society. Each generation has its monikers whether in its music, dress, or language. Note, not one style fits all. As we create the architecture of the future we are also creating a style that identifies a generation.
• ATTAINABLE None of this matters if we cannot create these homes at a price point that is attainable for the average buyer .This does not mean that all homes should be considered affordable, but rather designers need to understand the individual demographic that they are trying to reach.