Cashing in on K&B Trends

For the past 28 years, Gopal Ahluwalia, staff vice president of research for the National Association of Home Builders Economics Group, has been looking in-depth at what American homebuyers want.

His annual survey of consumer trends is highly anticipated by homebuilders. The 2004 survey confirmed that buyers continue to place great importance on kitchens and baths when shopping for a home. “The surveys revealed that the kitchen and bath are key factors in a consumer’s decision to buy or not to buy a home,” says Ahluwalia. “When we asked focus groups [of homebuyers] what they looked at in a home, they usually mentioned the kitchen or the bath. These two areas are making or breaking sales of new or existing homes.”

Kitchen Wish Lists
The survey results made it clear that the kitchen is the more important of the two spaces – even though most people don’t cook much. “If you ask people what is the one thing in a home that would keep them from buying it, they almost always say, ‘A bad kitchen,’” says Ahluwalia. “You can’t sell a home unless the kitchen is well designed.” That should come as no surprise, given the more than $20 billion Americans spend each year on kitchen and bath remodeling.

Perhaps more interesting were the features buyers wanted their builders to include in their kitchens. The top five were:

• A walk-in pantry (more than 80 percent of respondents wanted one).
• An island work area (named by more than 70 percent).
• Specialty appliance storage.
• A built-in microwave.
• Water filtration.

The survey also found buyers wanting more of everything, says Ahluwalia, including “more counter space and cabinets.” A growing number wanted two sinks, two dishwashers or even two kitchens – either a second indoor kitchen or an outdoor kitchen. (See “Outdoor Kitchens” in this issue.) For the outdoor kitchen, people don’t just want a gas grill, but a fully applianced cooking area. “They want a deep fryer, ice makers, a five- or six-burner stove and other appliances typically found indoors,” Ahluwalia says.

Bath Findings
As most builders know, bathrooms are getting both more numerous and expansive. The survey findings quantified the trend toward more baths, revealing that the number of new single-family homes with three or more baths increased from 12 percent in 1987 to 22 percent in 2003. Broken down by regions, 30 percent of new homes on the West Coast had three bathrooms in 2003, 21 percent in the South, 18 percent in the Midwest and 13 percent in the Northeast.

How many baths buyers want varies somewhat by ethnic group. The survey found that 49 percent of Asians, 37 percent of African Americans, 29 percent of Hispanics and 26 percent of Caucasians preferred three baths.

While baths have been getting steadily bigger, Ahluwalia expects the trend towards monster baths to abate somewhat. Today’s master baths are “sometimes as large as the master bedroom has been in the past,” but people seem to have had enough. The survey found that 69 percent of all respondents now want more room in the master bedroom and less in the master bath. Only 31 percent would accept a smaller bedroom in exchange for a bigger bath.

Among the top bathroom features desired by all groups surveyed are:

• A linen closet.
• A shower enclosure that’s separate from the tub.
• A whirlpool bath.

Ahluwalia also notes that skylights and large windows are becoming more prevalent in baths in production homes and not just high-end houses.

What these results tell us is that, to no one’s surprise, kitchen and bath details – from size to windows to accessories – remain key components of consumers’ buying decisions.