Green Homes

Landscapers working in the new-homes residential market take note. In its latest report on home-buying trends, Harris Interactive completed a study of American attitudes toward home size preferences. The study found that Americans are veering away from the larger homes placed in close proximity, to smaller homes with larger yards. Harris Interactive is a New York based research firm with annual revenue of $168.4 million from continuing operations, and 800 full time employees.

Only 9 percent of the study’s respondents said their ideal home size is more than 3,200 square feet– the same number who said they’d like their home to be between 800 and 1,400 square feet. Fifty-five percent of Americans would prefer a home between 1,401 and 2,600 square feet.

Diane Cheatham, owner of Urban Edge Developers in Dallas, said the average size of home they’re building is 2,200 square feet. She said the trend is toward building green homes instead of big homes. Right now, they’re building a 1,200-square-foot uber-green home for a couple that’s downsizing from 3,000-square feet, Cheatham explained. Landscapers need to learn more about sustainable landscaping to thrive in this new environment.

Homebuilders are heeding the call: In a survey of builders last year, nine out of 10 said they planned to build smaller or lower-priced homes. Even in Texas, the land of go big or go home, they’re downsizing.