You’ve probably noticed a decline in demand for massive houses, as the pendulum of home size demand has swung from one end to the other. Houseplans.com is where most go to buy floorplans for their individually built homes, representing an interesting segment in the market.
After compiling their third quarter sales data, Houseplans.com reports that not only does each region favor different designs, plans for home sizes shifted dramatically in the last year.
Popularity of plans by geographic region
Where you live dictates the popularity of a floorplan, and we all know that what’s popular in Miami isn’t going to be the same as what’s popular in South Dakota. So how do the different regions favor plans?
- The West Region’s most popular plan is a craftsman home.
- The Southwest Region’s most popular plan is a ranch home
- The Mountain Region’s most popular plan is a traditional home.
- The Midwest Region’s most popular plan is a traditional home.
- The Northeast Region’s most popular plan is a traditional home.
- The Southeast Region’s most popular plan is a craftsman home.
- The South Region’s most popular plan is a craftsman home.
It’s not surprising that Texans love ranch homes while Californians love a good craftsman.
Shifting trends in design and size
Houseplans.com sales indicate that the craftsman home is their most popular plan sold, with one in four clients choosing that style. Country style homes are the second most popular plan purchased (12.5 percent), followed by traditional (12 percent), and European (10.5 percent).
Of interest, sales of modern home plans rose 143 percent.
What is most fascinating, however, is the split between large and small homes, with sales of plans for homes under 500 square feet jumping 11 percent and sales of plans for homes over 5,000 square feet are down 77 percent.
Consumers are favoring smaller homes, but not just any sized small homes, but microhomes. These could likely be vacation cabins or second homes, but the preference is in line with national trends away from large homes as the economy continues to struggle through a recovery, rendering Americans a more practical and downsized people of late.
