JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The gap between what homebuyers make and what they can afford is near a 10-year high, according to Redfin. And to close that gap, architects are getting creative with every square inch.
“It's like Tetris, they're actually again, removing the hallways, removing places where you used to just have open spaces, and those spaces aren't there anymore,” explained real estate expert Jennifer Hammond. “So, the architects are designing differently. The construction companies are building differently.”
Hammond has seen the changes in Florida houses she shows clients from when she first got her real estate license in 1997.
"We're also losing a lot of hallways and I want to say empty spaces in properties," she said. "So, you don't see big spaces that you used to see, in a lot of Florida homes."
A study from John Burns Research and Consulting says in 2023, about 25% of floor plans designed by architects were downsized to cut costs.
“Even in just the last two to four years, things have changed and now you're seeing everybody trying to fill in every little space,” Hammond told First Coast News.
This allows designers to reserve more square footage to go towards a room and create what they call flex rooms: spaces that the homeowner can choose what to do with.
“People are living a lot differently than they were before the pandemic, because a lot of times now, children are being homeschooled or you're seeing people work from home,” Hammond said. “So, the actual design of a home is very different because the needs are different for people and you're gonna find that the builders who are looking at and listening to what their customers need.”
Especially in Florida homes, homebuyers are seeing a difference in materials used to build a home that can weather any storm, but are also energy efficient and cost effective.
“The materials are different, because guess what? Hurricanes have changed things” said Hammond. “Energy conservation things are part of how much houses have changed from 10 years ago to now, you know, it's much more important that we are efficient with our space, rather than it just having, you know, a 17-foot ceiling because we love big ceilings.”
Thus, adding new challenges to the hunt realtors go through to help clients find an affordable home.
“How do we handle the financial challenges, their interest rate challenges, and then the needs?" Hammond said. "How do we make sure that we have three bedrooms, but we need to be able to be under this amount of money. And we needed to be in this location."
Hammond also adds that the search for a home is different, as more people are utilizing virtual tours and online sources to determine if they even check out a home in-person.