L.A. Times story covers super-efficient new homes

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from Alex Lazo at the L.A. Times, who was going to be writing a story on home builders' ongoing efforts to make their homes increasingly energy efficient.  I gave him an overview of what was going on in the industry, and pointed him in the direction of builders such as KBHome, Pardee, Lennar and others as well as the ABC Green Home in Orange County.

That story was published today:

With the market healing, and with builders trying to distinguish their products from homes they built as recently as six years ago, companies such as KB Home, Lennar Corp. and others are rolling out more options for consumers and increasingly making energy efficiency part of the basic package.

"For new homes, it is becoming more of a standard feature, and the reason is that builders need a compelling reason that somebody should buy a new home rather than a resale," said Patrick Duffy, principal for research firm MetroIntelligence Real Estate Advisors.

In coming years, California guidelines will call for ever more energy-efficient homes, with the goal of having all homes built in 2020 being net zero. For now, net zero remains more of an aspiration for the industry, though experts say builders are increasingly making standard some of the fundamental elements of green design, including more efficient appliances, lighting and solar panel systems...

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Quoted in L.A. times story on new home sales

The L.A. Times' Alejandro Lazo called me yesterday to talk about the latest statistics from Dataquick for Southern California, and, more specifically, what to expect for new home sales in 2012. In brief: a slight improvement which will be more pronounced in urban infill areas than in outlying suburbs unless builders have a compelling proposition to make versus cheaper existing homes (such as Lennar's inter-generational NextGen homes or KBHome's energy-efficient models):

Sales of newly built homes suffered the most, falling 12% in December from the previous month to hit their lowest level on record for that month. Patrick Duffy, principal of MetroIntelligence Real Estate Advisors, said 2012 was not likely to be much better for home builders.

"We can expect a slight improvement," he said. "It depends on the area. Builders will compete in infill areas, in urban markets, because people like new."

"Where it's going to be hard is out in the suburbs," he said...

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L.A. Times reviews Lennar's new NextGen series

In today's Los Angeles Times, reporter Alejandro Lazo covered the extended family homes Lennar is building in San Bernardino and in Arizona. He had also called me to comment for the article, and I told him about the casitas that become very popular for larger new homes prior to and during the run-up to the building boom. From the story:

The company has built two San Bernardino County models of its so-called NextGen designs for its master-planned Rosena Ranch community. Like a Russian nesting doll with a smaller doll inside, the new residential design incorporates a smaller home with a separate front entrance, kitchenette, bathroom and bedroom...

For now, it seems to me that there are certain ethnic groups which have a history of inter-generational living (such as Hispanics and Asians), but he didn't delve much into that, preferring instead to focus on the economics of doubling up but with the advantage of private spaces.

I think it definitely shows that some builders are serious about innovating in ways to compete with their recent plans of the past as well as deeply discounted foreclosures:

"Here is a clever way of addressing something that wasn't built during the boom years," said Patrick Duffy, principal for research firm MetroIntelligence Real Estate Advisors. The main question builders are asking themselves, he said, is: "How do you make it special, not only against foreclosures, but a cheaper home that they themselves built only a few years ago?"

Click here to read the entire story.