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Slifer Smith & Frampton's Inside Edge: Home Trends - What the Experts are Saying

Slifer Smith & Frampton has the honor and pleasure of working with some of the nation’s foremost experts when it comes to the luxury real estate and second home markets. During recent conversations and interviews with a handful of industry leaders, these experts noted some of the latest trends taking place around them:

Paul Boomsma, Executive Vice President of Luxury Portfolio which showcases luxury properties throughout the world via an award-winning website, www.LuxuryPortfolio.com, and powerful network of real estate professionals, stresses that people want homes that embody “experiential efficiency”.

“For today’s wealthy buyers, money isn’t in short supply, but time is,” notes Boomsma. “Many of these people are still working hard, and they want their home to be their own masterpiece of beauty and relaxation.”

It’s for this reason that people aren’t as focused on the size of their homes as they are about the quality. For consumers who want to “look good, feel good and be good”, as Boomsma puts it, near perfection in a home is the first priority. This includes quality design and construction, along with very high end finishes to ensure the efficiency of a home, and pampering features such as heated floors, steam showers, flat screen televisions throughout the home, and wine or coffee bars in the master suite.

“Many of these buyers don’t always have time to go for a massage, so they want ultimate relaxation at home.”
John Brian Losh is the publisher of both www.LuxuryRealEstate.com, the most viewed luxury website in the world, and Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate. As a frequent world traveler, Losh is also very familiar with the luxury and second home real estate markets.

“People buy in the places they like to vacation,” says Losh. “Opportunities in the second home market are being viewed as investments, and the luxury market is strong with low interest rates, baby boomers and new industries creating new wealth.”

Meghan Barry, also with LuxuryRealEstate.com, notes that while growth in early ’07 hasn’t been as fast-paced as it was in ’05 and ’06, the market is still on an upswing. “Things are still good. We’re just seeing more of a natural growth trend.”

Losh also points out that successful resorts, such as Aspen and Vail, have introduced new products that do a good job of reflecting the character and culture of their surroundings via their architecture. They are also doing a good job of “providing people with easy access to the activities around them.”

Beth Slifer and Yvonne Jacobs of Slifer Designs, one of the nation’s preeminent interior design firms, have had the opportunity to work closely with many homeowners and are quite familiar with new design trends. “Ninety five percent of owners want to feel a ‘sense of place’ in their home,” says Mrs. Slifer. “Designs capture the surroundings, but not overly so. For example, in mountain resorts, the term ‘mountain modern’ defines what people are looking for.”

As Ms. Jacobs puts it, people want designs that are “edited,” with cleaner lines and more modern designs that don’t have quite as much. “Even log homes are incorporating modern designs, without the ‘lodge’ interior.”

Both point out that people are spending more time and money on the design of their second homes in order to personalize them as much as possible.

“People are spending more weeks out of the year at their second home, making them ‘family or party central’, and this trend has inspired them to invest eagerly,” notes Slifer.

Jacobs adds that “since people are spending so much time in their second homes luxury items, such as a media room, are now must haves.”

Mark Smith of East West Partners, one of the nation’s most respected real estate developers, is also seeing similar patterns that reflect a person’s desire for quality and comfort. For example, resort amenities, such as fitness centers, spas, lounges and concierge services, are being incorporated into more residential projects. Outdoor living spaces, such as outdoor rooms with fire pits are also very popular.

From a business perspective, Mark Smith notes that “while the media discusses a ‘housing bust’, it is being done on a macrolevel. This can be deceiving as markets that were overbuilt aren’t representative of the continued health of supply-constrained, highly desirable markets, such as Vail. Sophisticated buyers will trend towards high quality homes in the best locations.”

Based on the feedback of these experts, the luxury and second home markets will continue to flourish as long as buyers get the quality, comfort and location they so strongly desire.

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