Bigger garages, more spacious open spaces and even second kitchens are among the amenities most in demand by northeast Indiana home buyers.
“It’s all about the appointments,” said Lonnie Norris, vice president of Granite Ridge Builders.
Between its Fort Wayne and Goshen-based operations, the company logged 304 new home permits in 2015 – not quite an all time record, but a healthy performance.
Granite Ridge was the most prolific builder in the northeast Indiana area served by the Home Builders Association of Fort Wayne, in both number of homes built and dollar volume. Lancia Homes and Westport Homes are second and third in those categories, respectively.
Bob Buescher Homes, which builds most of its homes in the mid-$300,000 range, was fourth in dollar volume but seventh in permit numbers.
In 2015, area home builders collectively posted their best numbers since 2006. The number of units built in Allen County was up almost 18 percent from the prior year to hit a total of 880, according to the HBA.
Builders also permitted 320 homes in Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, Wells and Whitley counties, just a hair off 2014’s total of 324 homes for the same area, according to the HBA analysis.
The total dollar volume of new homes built in Allen County was $212.8 million, also up about 18 percent from $180.5 million in 2014. The average value per permit was essentially flat, at $241,790, compared with $241,918. The busiest area for building activity within the county was, as usual, Perry Township, followed in order by Aboite and St. Joseph.
Developers opened up some new subdivisions in the most popular areas in the last year, and the lot supply is pretty good with the possible exception of Perry Township, Norris believes.
“We can always use more in Perry,” he said.
Jeff Thomas, of Oakmont Development, thinks both Perry and Aboite could use additional lots, however. Although the supply has improved, it is still short what it should be, he said.
Buescher builds a lot of homes outside of subdivisions, on acreage buyers have already required, said Steve Enright, director of sales and marketing. It also is very busy in the lakes areas of Steuben and Kosciusko counties, outside the HBA’s reporting area. Every home is custom, and oriented to make the best use of the lot, he said.
The slight uptick in interest rates in December did not discourage buyers who had been hesitant to commit.
“If anything, it pushed them off dead center,” said Thomas, who is this year’s HBA president.
The inventory of existing homes also is down, and more buyers are choosing to build new because they can’t find the features they want among what is currently available, Thomas said.
Despite the flat average permit value, builders are doing proportionately fewer homes priced in the $150,000 and under category, the HBA analysis said. Only 21 percent of homes fell in that range in 2015, a steady decline from 34 percent in 2012. And 22 percent of homes were in the over $300,000 category, compared with 19 percent in 2012.
The second kitchens many buyers now want are really sort of “pantries on steroids,” Norris said. They serve not only to provide extra storage, especially for items bought in bulk, but as prep areas with sinks, second stoves and/or dishwashers and coffee stations.
They also take away some of the clutter from the main kitchen, which in most open-space concept homes blends right into the living area, Enright said.
Higher ceilings throughout the home, not just in the two-story great rooms that were popular in the 1990s, also are in greater demand, Enright said.
Bigger bathrooms with open showers are popular, as are glassed-in sunrooms and outdoor living areas that merge the inside with the outside. Buyers increasingly are choosing hard floors over carpeting, Norris said. Energy efficiency has become almost a given.
As the cheapest square-footage that can be built, basements are a big selling point for builders, who have taken to calling them “lower levels” instead. An unfinished or partially finished basement can be added to a project with relatively little cost, and then finished later if the homeowner desires, Norris said.
Some baby boomers are showing interest in downsizing the amount of space they need, but “they still want to have all the neat stuff packed in,” Enright said.
On the other hand, younger buyers, in the 20 to 35 age range, “are going for broke,” he said. With interest rates still at near-historic lows, they figure it’s the right time to get everything they want. Even if that brings their monthly payment to $1,200 or above, that’s comparable to what they would pay per month for a nice apartment, he said.
Prospective home buyers typically consult two or three builders before making a decision. Spending an hour with a builder, even if that is not the one ultimately selected, costs nothing and can be an excellent learning experience, Enright said.