Top Building Trends In 2019 For Constructing New Single Family Homes

Many buyers in the Nanaimo real estate market decide to buy a new single family home instead of a resale home. Sometimes home buyers choose new construction to have brand new appliances. Other times buyers want to avoid making the routine repairs that always seem to pop up in a resale home.

But one of the biggest reasons home buyers in Nanaimo choose new construction is that it has the most modern trends. Here’s a look at the top building trends in 2019 for constructing new single family homes in Nanaimo, BC.

Trend #1: Smaller home sizes

As home prices keep rising, home builders are constructing smaller single family homes to make them more affordable. But that doesn’t mean they feel cramped. Developers are making interior and exterior design changes such as open floor plans, wider doors and hallways, and more windows to make smaller homes feel big.

Trend #2: Smaller lots

The rising demand for new homes in Nanaimo means there’s less space to build on. As a result, new homes are being constructed on smaller lots. 10,000 square foot lots from a generation ago are long gone. The trade off is that there’s less landscaping and yard work to do!

Trend #3: Connecting the indoors with outdoors

Both home sizes and lot sizes are getting smaller. To keep new single family homes for sale in the Nanaimo real estate market from feeling too small, builders are emphasizing the connection between indoors and out. Even new homes with small, narrow lots can offer homeowners easy physical and visual connections for outdoor living.

Trend #4: Mixed materials to define spaces

Combining two unique materials to define spaces inside and out is another technique builders are using with new home construction in Nanaimo. Examples of using mixed materials include pairing brick and stone, changing the direction of a single material, mixing in metals such as silver, brass, and gold, and creating texture by using stone with raw wood.

Trend #5: Ceilings as a 5th wall

Speaking of texture, architects have begun viewing the ceiling as another wall with a blank canvas. Ceiling space is being transformed with creative textures, colors, and lighting that makes new homes visually stimulating with a more spacious feel.

Trend #6: Focus on stairs

Stairs in new single family homes are receiving more attention in the same way that ceilings are. Instead of being viewed as a series of utilitarian steps, they’re now a focal piece in their own right. Fine detailing, unique transitional materials, and original design are being used to give stairs a life of their own.

Trend #7: Multi-generational living space

Multi-generational living space is another top building trend in 2019 as millennial's delay starting families and baby boomers begin to downsize. New homes in Nanaimo are being constructed with individual suites and transition spaces that can easily be changed from a home office or media room into an additional bedroom with en suite bath.

Trend #8: Energy-efficient green building

More new homes are featuring the use of energy-efficient items both inside and out. Super-efficient appliances, and touchless faucets with hot water coming from solar water heaters are quickly becoming the norm. On the exterior, builders are using new eco-friendly building materials such as light-emitting cement, bricks made of recyclable materials, and “Martian” concrete – a new kind of concrete that doesn’t require water to mix and is twice as strong.

Trend #9: Smart home features

Smart home features are our final top building trend in 2019 that are making new homes more efficient and friendlier to live in. An easy-to-use smartphone app can be used to control appliances, heating & cooling thermostats, door locks, garage doors, lighting and sound systems.