JEREMIAH ECK
Quality features

Good things may indeed come in small packages. A recent survey of architects indicates typical homebuyers are looking for smaller lots and smaller homes, but with better amenities all around. In the American Institute of Architects’ Home Design Trends Survey for the first quarter of the year, 26 percent of residential architects report home sizes to be decreasing, versus 21 percent who say homes are getting larger.

“I think that everyone – clients, architects and builders – are beginning to realize that the trend toward large ostentatious houses doesn’t really serve our communities,” said Deborah Pierce, a Newton architect who is on the AIA advisory group for small-project practitioners.

Still, other studies note that homes are getting larger. The median size of an American home is about 2,400 square feet, compared to 1,900 square feet in 1990 and just 1,300 square feet in 1970, according to Jeremiah Eck, a Boston-based architect who cited information from the National Association of Home Builders.

“It depends on what house you’re talking about. The vast majority of houses that get built every year are not designed by architects,” said Eck, a partner at Eck MacNeely Architects. “Except for neo-traditional development, in which houses are put on smaller lots and closer to each other to give a sense of community, there’s no evidence that I see that houses are getting smaller or that they’re on smaller lots.”

However, Eck said he sees some evidence that homebuyers who work with architects are showing a preference for slightly smaller homes with quality features.

The Washington, D.C.-based AIA conducts the quarterly survey with a panel of 500 architecture firms that concentrate their practice in the residential sector. AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker has attributed the trend toward smaller space to several factors, such as lower rates of home price appreciation, higher short-term interest rates and rising home energy costs. Smaller homes translate into less space for which owners must pay to heat and cool.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, in contrast to the AIA survey, indicates that homes are getting bigger – at least when it comes to the number of bedrooms. One in five homes, or 20 percent, had four or more bedrooms in 2005 compared to just about 18 percent in 2000.

‘A Uniform Character’
Pierce, of Pierce Lamb Architects, agrees with Eck that many developer-led home construction projects are larger than architect-led projects that focus on amenities.

Many newly constructed homes are bland and don’t fit in with the rest of the neighborhood, she said.

“They often have a uniform character that looks like they could be placed anywhere,” she said. “When they have decorative items, they’re most typically [based] on a very limited palette that doesn’t respond to the local character.”

But Pierce said clients she’s worked with in the metropolitan Boston area are preferring quality, character and amenities over homes with vast rooms and lots of space.

“I think in the trend of ‘small is beautiful,’ there’s an appreciation of nooks, alcoves, bay windows, fireplaces, built-in cabinets, moldings, special lighting effects and quality materials,” she said.

The AIA survey notes that homeowners are looking for different house layouts and seeking greater accessibility around the home, including wider hallways, fewer steps and single-floor design. Some 74 percent of architects reported that homeowners wanted greater accessibility, up from 66 percent last year. Part of that trend is due to aging baby boomers and those who have concerns about caring for aging relatives in their homes, according to the analysis by AIA’s Baker.

Architect surveys also have shown a growing trend toward outdoor living. More than 60 percent of architects responding to the survey saw outdoor living as a trend that is becoming more popular. They noted that homebuyers were drawn to outdoor amenities like fireplaces, gazebos, courtyards and swimming pools.

Bill Kuhlman, a Needham-based buyer’s agent and president of the Massachusetts Association of Buyer Agents, said he has noticed a difference in the preferences of older homebuyers and younger Generation X buyers.

“Baby boomers, when they have entered the homebuying market, they’ve bought homes that they found personally impressive and that they thought their peers would find impressive,” said Kuhlman, a broker with Expedition Real Estate. “Generation Xers have a tendency to want the place that meets their needs and doesn’t stretch their budgets. It’s kind of a home base to live and keep their stuff in while they go out and have fun.”

Younger buyers also have been more willing to trade space for homes that are closer to where they work and more affordable, he said. “Baby boomers, in the past, would have sacrificed money and location to get a more impressive house,” Kuhlman added.

Almost all newly constructed homes Greater Boston have been 2,800 square feet or larger, Kuhlman said. Those homes have tended to be too expensive for many buyers.

“If there were new-construction homes that were two- or three-bedroom houses, 1,300 to 1,600 square feet, I think there would be tremendous market for them, as opposed to what has been the trend of building larger and larger homes,” he said. “If you take all the pool of buyers, there’s a small percentage that can afford a 3,000-square-foot home in a given town.”