Housing Market will Not Recover easily this time.

[TimHume_IHB]

They already seem outdated to me. We've passed on a few houses to rent because the TV niche was too small for our TV.

I'm a bull. ;-P

 

[TRock_IHB]

bkshopr,

Considering the costs, is there a possibility of roof gardens/lawns in combination with the "Modern Mediterranean?" This seems to be the trend in Tokyo these days. Benefits could be 1) extending the life of a flat roof (which deteriorates faster than sloped), 2) reduces heating and cooling costs for a house, 3) you can add this feature WITHOUT having to increase the square footage and lot size of a house, 4) it's a new thing for OC tract housing that many people may like. If done on a large scale, could this be reasonable for home builders? Thanks in advance.

Since last year I predicted that all the builders and developers will freeze their projects for at least a few years.

Another prediction for housing to be released by 2012 should have some incorporation of green components as well as wider glass area for view, light and ventilation.

House style will have evolved to a hybrid of "modern Mediterranean" which will allow roof decks and parapet guard rail wall and 250sf of surface area for mounting solar photo voltaic panels on roof deck hidden from ground floor view by the guardrail height walls.

Products will have the best efficient use of land. Driveway may be eliminated and traded for a combination of a bigger backyard and living space.

Builders will build when the demand is high and supply is low. In the mean time bargain resale inventory will likely last through 2012.

Looks like TIC is listening or have done their homework. Orchard Hills is delayed until Fall of 2011, the Irvine side of OH probably won't be released until 2012/2013. Looks like Laguna Crossing is scheduled for 2010.

 

[Bubblegum_IHB]

Products will have the best efficient use of land. Driveway may be eliminated and traded for a combination of a bigger backyard and living space.

I know the trend is moving to alley load, but I'm not completely sold on an alley design for SFR. I think I understand the reasoning behind them from an curb appeal and space design. The 3 car tandem design now, is great for storage but unless you park a Yaris, Fit maybe a Prius in there they are hard to comfortably fit three cars in that design. But with a driveway, you could accomodate four cars and still use the tadem space for storage.

I guess I'd consider the alley load if enough additional conveniences were brought to the table in the design vs. the inconveniences of the alley load.

 

[reason_IHB]

Understanding that prices of homes will be suppressed for some years to come. Which will mean there will be bargain pricing to be had.

But regarding future new home prices. Can it be truly affordable to the average income earners? With the effect of high energy cost such as gasoline on other product and services. Not to mention the devaluation of the US currency. Surely, this will translate to higher construction costs to build future new homes which only mean higher prices?

And as of late, this has been another concern: As current home prices plummeted. There's also concerns that rate will increase. If this is so, are we truly getting a good deal? For example, someone waiting to buy in 2010. Yes, s/he got the rock bottom price on a particular property. But the mortgage rates then might be double digits. Yes, the first solution is "I can always refinance to a lower rates later on". But how long will that be? Another 10 years for rates to fall again?

 

[QH Renter_IHB]

IMO, builders need to build for 2000 technology by adding more cat 5, dual RG6 coax by every TV for Tivo's and DVR's, but the more "high tech" along the lines of lighting, security, AV distribution and entertainment will be a nightmare for the traditional builder. Unless they contract out with a major CE firm, these systems are expensive and highly unreliable. Instead, they need to install expandable infrastructure within the house. I'd pay for 2" conduit to be installed into every room location so that I can upgrade and pull wire anytime i need to, whether it's for a home intercom, home theater, computer networking, satellite, etc. While cat 5 might be fine now, what about cat6 or 10gE or fiber, or whatever comes next.

You're on the right track here, but you'll want conduit in every wall and not just every room. This will give you the option on where to put your drop. Another factor for this would be access. How are you going to get the cable to the conduit? You're going to need some sort of crawl space.

Something that I'd like to see builders implement is a closet with HVAC. We are getting close to the point where many houses are going to have a rack of computer and A/V equipment.