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Building Smaller, Selling Smarter
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"I would say generally people are realizing bigger is not always better if they can get a smaller home that is affordable," said Knutson of Beazer.
As for luxury touches, he said: "We still offer as many choices as ever to customers; the question is whether it's included in the base price. If perhaps a customer has to pass today on the granite countertops, but it allows them to get into the home, that's a good thing."
At Pulte Homes, Sean Degen, national vice president of architectural services, said the company has downsized some home models, but not always with price in mind.
"We shrunk the homes because the buyers shifted, not necessarily to get the prices down," he said.
Before the downturn, builders loaded up homes in different price ranges with plenty of top-of-the-line fixtures as standard features, including stainless-steel appliances, granite kitchen counters and finished basements.
But Angie Bresnahan, a real estate agent with Realty Resource in Herndon, said some builders are now offering such things as standard in high-end homes only and reducing the quality of certain standard fixtures.
For example, she said, she's seeing cheaper-looking gold-colored chandeliers and faucets in some new homes.
"It's the bottom of the barrel, and now it's back," she said.
As for size, she said, some shoppers have expressed concern about the costs of owning big houses.
"I definitely have clients worried about the energy associated with a large home," she said.
In some instances, the question is: How small is too small?
Angeli A. Escalante, an agent with Long & Foster in Georgetown, said she has seen some new two-bedroom condominiums in the District that are so small, "it isn't livable."
She said: "They'll have granite countertops, they'll have nice appliances, but the livable space in the kitchen and living area is one space, and it's difficult to put a sofa in. What they call a bedroom is too small. Buyers are looking into it and realizing the space isn't day-to-day livable space."
Whatever the case, Ritu Desai, an agent with Samson Realty in Chantilly, said there need to be more alternatives to the big homes to serve a broader spectrum of customers.
"We definitely hope to see smaller homes more," she said.
