Residential Home Developments And The Single-Family Home

This sector is growing as fast as they can nail, glue, and screw them together. (Or even print them out.) Their success is largely due to the ability to meet various buyers’ needs and budgets. Here we will explore how developers continue to evolve with the times and offer new housing choices.

Designs that include unique amenities are attracting a wide market serving buyers in greater age diversities and lifestyles. No longer limited to atypical versions for retirement communities with golf, or boating concepts, it has expanded to community-shared greenspaces without private lawns, tiny homes, and farm-based developments. All share one thing in common, a desire to live in a single-family home that is still affordable.

The growth of single-family-home developments in America began in

the late 1940s and early 1950s. triggered by the end of World War II.

Returning Veterans were starting their families, and the GI Bill created an opportunity like none other for Real Estate developers. Most famously, Abraham Levitt and his two sons Alfred and William bought 1500 acres of farm fields in Nassau County, Long Island. Previously a homebuilder in Long Island, Levitt turned to mass production, filling the booming postwar housing.

Thirty-plus one-story homes were produced daily using a 26-step process that referred to Henry Ford’s car production methods. He built 100 homes at once, with 30 completions per day. He cut costs further by offering only two color choices, using pre-fabrication methods, and offering nearly identical house plans. All homes had no basements, constructed on a concrete slab.

For this time period, urban utopia was a new lifestyle concept with green lawns, white picket fences, and urban living. Each Cape Cod-style house was essentially the same. In one package price, the homes were move-in ready with modern kitchens and even a television waiting in the living room.

He included a community area with a swimming pool, activity building, and even a shopping center. This was one of the first American versions of a mass-produced suburb with an urban lifestyle.

The response was immediate, and potential home buyers waited in long lines to purchase what ended up being more than 17,000 homes. Successful, Levitt continued a similar development later in Philadelphia. Both were named after him and have withstood the test of time by continuing to fill housing needs to this day.

Single-Family-Home Developments Sales Continue To Flourish

Builder Magazine yearly ranks the top 100 single-family home builders. Here is a list from an article written by Mary Salmonsen for Multi-Family Dive magazine, This list is by volume of closings in 2021.

1. 81,981 D.R. Horton Northeast, Midwest, South, West

2. 59,825 Lennar Corp Northeast, Midwest, South, West

3. 28,894 PulteGroup Northeast, Midwest, South, West

4. 21,540 NVR Northeast, Midwest, South (Parent Corp. of Ryan Homes, NVHomes, and Heritage Homes)

5. 13,669 Taylor Morrison South and West

6. 13,472 KB Home South and West

7. 12,801 Meritage Homes Corp. South and West

8. 10,907 Clayton Properties Group Midwest, South, West

9. 10,805 Century Communities Midwest, South, West

10. 10,442 LGI Homes Midwest, South, West

Variations of Single-family Housing Developments Design

Again, in large part, the success of developments is that they continually provide new choices. With resourcefulness, single-family housing developers are staying up to date. Below are a few examples of the latest in concepts.

The Need for Construction Speed and Economy. Computer 3-D houses

Lennar has partnered with ICON, a 3-D printing company, to literally pump out 3 and 4-bedroom concrete homes. Outside Austin, Texas, the project of 100 homes looks more like a modified Technology center than a site for housing. There have been singular 3-D homes previously, but this is the first time for it to be tried at scale. Requiring less labor and faster production, they hope to fill a need at a competitive price point.

Lack of Rental Housing, Build to Rent at Scale

The heavy demand for rental housing made it profitable to build single-family homes for rent. Entire developments of single-family rental housing are being built for investors. Institutions are buying these as newer buildings require less upkeep. As for the renter, they can enjoy living in a house without being responsible for maintenance. Most recently, “The Real Deal” published an article about JP Morgan and Haven Realty Capital partnering and investing one Billion in single-family rental communities.

Want Rural Life Without The Overhead? Agrihoods

Wish you could find more locally grown food, or could you grow your own? Then meet the Agrihood concept. In this type of community development, agriculture is the draw. In Phoenix, Agritopia has 450 residential lots with its own farm with lambs, goats, citrus, and heirloom vegetables. Serenbe, by Atlanta, Georgia, offers a 1000-acre development with a 25-acre working farm. And in Northlake, Texas, Harvest is an 1150-acre mixed-use community with Tassione Farms as its community hub. Agrihoods offer their residents healthy living; some even supply fresh vegetables to local restaurants. Currently, there are over 200 Agrihood developments in 30 states across the United States.

Common Environmental Values for Sustainable Development.

There are developments designed to have the environment and sustainability as their focus. Such as Skokomish Farms in the Puget Sound area. Here 218 parcels are divided into 5 acres of homesites with 35 acres under a perpetual conservation farm easement. Another is Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage (DR Land Trust), which is located on 280 acres of rolling hillsides in Rutledge, Missouri.

The Economy of Space. The Hybrid

Offering a smaller lot and building site but still considered a full-size house, the Hybrid is a solution for transitional life stages. Without the overhead of a clubhouse and pool, this model offers economy with less costly amenities. Dog parks and shared greenspaces with communal Lawns are designed for increased green space. Link Xeriscape Landscapes reduce maintenance, and water needs, all for cost savings. Cottages, bungalows, or Casita styles, often offer courtyards for privacy outdoors.

Limited overhead and available space?

Tiny Homes offer a housing solution.

(Note: To be considered a “Tiny Home,” the dwelling cannot exceed 300 sq feet and be attached to the ground. If not, and is moveable, it is considered a motor home and must meet that criterion)

Tiny Homes Developments are being built from snowy ski resort destinations to the hot plains of Texas. To be correct, it seems the preferred term is “villages” rather than developments. The term tiny is often stretched beyond 300 sq ft on land zoned for this density and purpose. Many are not true Tiny Houses, although still very small. Themes. These developments' styles, colors, and layouts show creativity beyond most imaginations. Amenities can still abound with dog parks, fire pits, pools, and green spaces.

• Tiny Home Housing is popular for several reasons.

• A happy medium between paying rent and not being able to afford a full-size home

• Having a second or third home in choice destinations

• Filling the need for workforce housing and rentals. (Aspen Ski Co. Built these in Basalt, Colorado.)

• In locations near choice travel destinations for an income-producing vacation rental.

• First home buyers

• Downsizing to a senior Tiny Home Community

• College student housing

Affordable housing micro-communities for those working poor and near or under the poverty level. (Recently approved in Portland, Oregon.)

Tiny home developments are finding their way into Real Estate Sales, Vacation rentals, Senior Living, and more, filling a big need in housing. In the article on Sunday Houses, I shared how ranchers in the early 1900s built Tiny Homes (Sunday houses then) to come into town for weekends to attend church and get supplies.

Zoning For The Future

Long before zoning laws were well defined, early home construction was hardly regulated. A multi-story building could be divided up and turned into boarding houses or duplexes. In highly concentrated locations, such as in New York City’s Lower East Side, tenement housing was a solution for the day.

This grew into an inconsistent housing mix that, over time, did not meet living conditions and changes in urban lifestyles. As populations continued to swell, zoning laws were forced to become far more specific. Urban sprawl, skyrocketing Real Estate values, and types of housing changing, many urban areas are questioning what is often archaic zoning. Single-family home sites of 1 to 5 acres and even inner city lots are some of the first for getting a second look for better uses for housing. In Oregon, California, and the city of Minneapolis, measures are being taken to allow up to four units on some single-family lots.

As in Levittown, planned developments continue to provide choices and fulfill dreams. of living in a single-family house. One common thread continues: we all need greenspaces to connect our communities and if we are lucky enough to have a small private piece of green. Follow our newsletter and read more about how housing choices are evolving and how to choose healthy green spaces.

With In Green Living, Joni Keefe shares nature-based design choices for urban greenspaces and Interior Design. Her interests follow Real Estate & housing sustainable agriculture, eco-friendly building products, and the latest trends in green design. She is a published writer with horticultural design work featured in national publications.