Up-and-Coming Community Design Trends Reflect Post-Pandemic Lifestyle Changes

Housing design trends have adapted over the last two years to accommodate new lifestyle preferences following the COVID-19 pandemic, and developers are finding innovative ways to keep up with renewed demand, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports. By collecting feedback through resident surveys, marketers have identified specific amenities centered around timely priorities such as design flexibility, connection with nature, and sustainability. 

Multifunctional flex spaces give residents control over their living areas, whether adding a spare bedroom or creating a home office. A vast majority of homeowners also invested in more spacious and comfortable outdoor living areas amid quarantine restrictions throughout the pandemic, giving rise to dog parks, outdoor fire pits, and community gardens in new development projects. 

"With affordability taking a nosedive in nearly every major metro across the country, stretching the development dollar is extremely important," said Katie Fidler, director of research and communications for St. Bourke in Atlanta. "From the very start we are looking for ways to value engineer our community designs, because minimizing development costs of the project will ultimately result in more affordable homes and ongoing home owner costs. This includes working with the project's topography instead of against it by minimizing wetland impacts, avoiding stream crossings, and designing roads networks along the site’s natural contours."

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