Top 7 construction trends making an impact on your customer in 2022
The past two years have shown the need for flexibility and out-of-the-box thinking in most areas of our lives, construction industry included. As we dive deeper into 2022 and beyond, staying on top of what trends matter to your customers, and by default, will impact how you do business, will become increasingly important.
Work from Home
Two years from the start of the COVID pandemic has proven that some changes to our day-to-day lives are not going anywhere, including a more hybrid work life.
Carlo Siracusa, president of Weichert Residential Sales pointed out in a recent Forbes article covering industry expert housing projections, that the work from home life “trend” may be here to stay, “If this continues for the foreseeable future, we will see more people moving to markets where they would prefer to live, not necessarily near their employer.”
New Markets
So where are buyers looking to live? Chief Economist from Zonda, Ali Wolf and Assistant VP of Forecasting & Analysis from NAHB are hedging their (well informed) bets on the South. Wolf indicates a few impacts that make a world of difference, “lifestyle meets relative affordability, lower taxes, warm weather, and employment opportunities.”
The Midwest is also proving to be attractive and affordable. National Association of realtors identified these ten “hidden gems” housing markets over the next year.
Multifunction
The new work from home life met with the increase of millennial home buyers means homes that are both comfortable and multipurpose. 58% of designers predict multifunctional spaces becoming “increasingly popular” over the next year and beyond.
Sustainability & Eco-friendly Building
With climate change becoming more of a concern, home buyers will be prioritizing sustainability and environmentally friendly homes. Redfin’s Chief Economist, Daryl Fairweather predicts this practice becoming more commonplace for home sellers as well, “home sellers will also likely make significant investments in climate-change resilient home features in order to appeal to climate-conscious home buyers.”
What does that look like in practice? The National Kitchen & Bath Association’s annual design trends report calls out 100% LED lighting as the first step. Followed by ever-increasing trends like eco-friendly products made from recycled materials, VOC-free paint, and areas in the home designed specifically for recycling.
Modular & Prefabricated Construction
COVID-19 aftermath has also sparked the need for more efficiencies in construction job sites, specifically in the areas of building practices and tech. Modular and refabricated construction, are becoming increasingly popular, proving better quality and efficiency, shorter building hours and less labor costs.
Construction Tech for Job Site Efficiency & Safety
There is a lot that can be said about how technology will play (and has played) an invaluable role over the next year and beyond. As construction organizations look to shake up how they work in a way that’s safe and efficient, technology solutions like smart machines, wearable innovations, and mobile applications will become more capable of identifying safety issues and remote access to worksites. The industry will see a transformation around work accountability and efficiency from time/material waste and threats to workers safety and health.
Internal team software to streamline budgets and project management will also play a huge role in increased construction efficiencies – data search and RFI’s, digital document storage, payroll/HR, CRMs, and inventory monitoring, to name a few.
Construction Tech for Better CX
RESAAS CEO, Tom Rossiter says that before COVID, “using technology was seen by many real estate agents as a ‘nice to have.’ Now it’s simply a requirement to do business.” He predicts that sellers and buyers will be using digital solutions even more throughout the home buying process, from initial search to even closing final agreements.
What kind of tech is the industry seeing already? Anything from walk-through and initial design collaboration like onsite drones, augmented reality and building information modeling to final house buying steps like smart contracts.
Sources:
Experts Predict What the 2022 Housing Market Will Bring (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/01/10/2022-housing-market-predictions/
Experts Predict What the Housing Market Will Look Like in 2022 (Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brendarichardson/2021/12/13/experts-predict-what-the-housing-market-will-look-like-in-2022/?ss=real-estate&sh=791fa0573942
NKBA Finds COVID-19 and Millennial Influence Will Drive 2022 Design Trends (Builder Online)
https://www.builderonline.com/design/nkba-finds-covid-19-and-millennial-influence-will-drive-2022-design-trends_o
NKBA Report: The Forces Driving 2022 Design Trends (Remodeling)
https://www.remodeling.hw.net/business/design/nkba-finds-covid-19-and-millennial-influence-will-drive-2022-design-trends_s
Top 10 Construction Industry Trends To Watch For In 2022 (Big Rentz)
https://www.bigrentz.com/blog/construction-trends
Two Industry Experts Forecast Their Predictions For 2022 (Builder Online)
https://www.builderonline.com/money/economics/two-industry-experts-forecast-their-predictions-for-2022_o
