A look at housing market trends will tell you that house prices go in an upward curve. They get more expensive as the years go by, but what contributes to the surge in modern housing costs? While the economy is the biggest driving factor, we’ve also seen a rise in demand for certain architectural features. The modern homebuyer wants a house that boasts a variety of key elements – and they’re willing to pay top dollar for them.
What are the modern architectural features we speak of?
Contrary to your assumptions, most of the in-demand features revolve around practicality or adding something useful to a property. It’s increasingly rare to find elements of home decor or architecture that boost property value based on aesthetics alone. In the modern housing climate, these architectural features are driving property prices the most…
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Open-Plan Interiors
You could argue this isn’t a “modern” trend, as open-plan interiors have been sought after for a couple of decades now. There’s a stark contrast between homes built three decades ago and ones built within the last ten or fifteen years. Newer properties are almost always designed with an open-plan interior layout. Instead of having separate rooms for living or dining, there’s a vast open space for homeowners to do whatever they want with their interior setup.
Open-plan designs make homes appear more spacious and give you the feeling of getting more from the actual square footage of a property. Some homes will have open-plan kitchens leading into living/dining rooms, so the entire bottom floor is one open space.
Modern homebuyers want houses with an open-plan element, which is why this feature causes a massive hike in resale prices. It’s mainly to do with the fact that the house becomes so spacious and there are virtually endless possibilities relating to how an owner can design their personal open-plan living space.
Outdoor Patio Living Spaces
On the topic of living spaces, outdoor versions of indoor living areas are ginormously popular in the modern housing market. Architectures will always design outdoor living spaces for new homes – though you could say that has always been the case. The difference nowadays is that patios have almost completely taken over from decking.
Why? Because a patio does everything a decking does, only better:
- Made using more durable materials
- Looks far more refined and upmarket
- Better at resisting bad weather
- Easier to clean & less likely to experience mold
It’s got to the point that a patio is so desired, it makes sense to invest a decent amount of money in making yours as perfect as possible. If you can create a patio with a customized shelter overhead and get custom railing installation to make it safer and more luxurious, then you’re adding huge value to your home. You can easily make back this investment when you sell in the future – and if you want to rent, then a patio with luxury patio furniture will only help you drive a bigger monthly rental price.
High-End Kitchens & Bathrooms
Many homeowners ask a simple question: What’s the best room to renovate?
Some may say this depends on why you want to renovate, but 90% of the time, the answer will be either your kitchen or bathroom. Why? These two rooms have the most significant impact on your house’s resale value. Everyone wants a contemporary bathroom or a luxury kitchen with modern fittings. If a home doesn’t boast either of these, then it’ll likely be the first things a new owner renovates when they move in.
Taking that to heart, it’s only logical for someone to want to buy a house with all the renovation work done for them. People will pay through the nose for high-end kitchens and bathrooms because it saves them two stressful jobs.
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Large Windows That Provide Natural Lighting
As you read through the different architectural features on this list, you probably start nodding your head in agreement with them. Of course high-end kitchens and patios boost a home’s property value – and it makes sense that homeowners place a lot of emphasis on wanting open-plan designs.
Then you reach this feature and start scratching your head. Large windows are a lovely architectural design feature, but how do they increase a home’s value? Why are homeowners so eager to have properties that let in a lot of natural lighting to the point that they’re willing to pay more for them?!
It’s not obvious at first, but there are several benefits of natural light in your home:
- Saves money on energy bills
- Improves the health of house plants
- Makes interiors feel more spacious
These are all things people look for when buying homes, so the demand for large windows and lots of natural light is real. It may not seem like something that has a significant impact on house prices, but don’t sleep on the idea of incorporating larger windows into your home’s design.
Energy Efficient Elements
We very briefly touched upon large windows and their ability to save money on energy bills – because you don’t need to keep your lights on as often. This leads to a wider feature of modern homes that can give your property the biggest value increase of all.
Homes with energy-efficient design elements are always going to be more expensive and desirable than those without.
The reason behind this is simple: energy-efficient homes cost less money to run, which reduces a homeowner’s monthly expenses. When buying a home, this means the owner has lower energy bills, which can make it easier to afford a monthly mortgage. When renting, the reduction in energy bills from an eco-efficient home can make a property more affordable to renters. They may have shied away from renting your home before, but when they add up all of the monthly expenses, it’s actually cheaper to pick the energy-efficient home, even if it has a higher monthly rent.
Sustainable Building Materials
Okay, let’s continue with the green trend and talk about sustainable building materials. This has really become a hotly warranted architectural feature for many modern homebuyers, and you can easily see why.
People want homes that are built with sustainable materials with a lower environmental impact than traditional building materials. It makes them feel good about living in the house, but one underappreciated aspect of sustainability is the way materials are built to last. A home isn’t sustainable if the materials need to be replaced or touched up every ten years.
Homebuyers will spend a lot of money on houses with materials that are built to last, yet aren’t terrible for the environment.
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Built-In Smart Technology
How many smart devices do you currently depend on around your home? Be honest here – there’s probably about three Alexa’s, a handful of smart bulbs, and maybe even a smart plug socket or two. These devices make life easier and give you more control over your home. Plus, it’s simply fun and quirky to turn lights off from downstairs or set your heating to turn on when you’re coming back from work.
Now, imagine a home with this type of technology already built in and ready to use? Owners don’t need to purchase additional smart devices because apps can control the plug sockets, or all the light fixtures include smart bulbs. Buying these devices is surprisingly expensive too, which is why built-in smart technology gives modern homes a lovely little price increase.
It comes down to the fact that you’re making a house suitable for the future. It’s integrated with great technology to make managing the home much simpler – plus you have things like a built-in smart thermostat to control energy usage, which leads back to the energy efficiency benefit!
Low-Maintenance Outdoor Areas
The final modern architectural feature to talk about is a low-maintenance outdoor area. Funnily enough, this is one of the reasons patios are overtaking deckings in terms of desirability. They’re easier for homeowners to maintain and clean, so people would much rather have a patio than a deck.
However, this point extends to the entire outdoor area; gone are the days when people wanted houses with sprawling gardens and loads of greenery. Now, they want something simple and easy to look after. Homebuyers want gardens with a stretch of lawn and maybe space around to put plants if they want. It’s led to a massive change in how gardens are designed in modern houses, but it’s all because people want less maintenance.
You can even look at other elements of exterior design, like your siding. Houses with easy-to-maintain siding are more popular than those with siding materials that are hard to clean. If the exterior of your home is easy to look after, then you could see a remarkably high asking price.
Now that you’re aware of the modern features driving house prices through the roof, which ones are you likely to implement in your home? Also, it’s good to look for these features when buying a new home because you know it will be well set for the future.
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