*BETTER HOUSES ABUILDING-

Because Buyers Demand Them

THE home buyer today knows pretty well what he wants. Panic buying is gone. The market is now dominated by the couple who have lived in. or own, a house and want a better home. These people know what was wrong with the old one." In these words, Chicago Builder George Goldman summed up a growing problem for housebuilders. More and more home buyers are finding things wrong with the general run of houses on the market, demanding better value. In Washington fortnight ago, 103 specially chosen U.S. women were invited by the Housing and Home Finance Agency to list some of the wrongs.

The main complaint is space. For $10,000 the Washington panel thought buyers should get at least 1.200 sq. ft. of space, with three bedrooms. 1 1/2 baths, a kitchen with eating facilities, a living room, utility room and basement. Such a house, say architects, actually costs $15,000. Yet. according to statistics for 1955 compiled by the Labor Department, these things are often not found in houses selling for $15,000. Of all new homes in the $12,000-$15,000 price range. 63.9% had fewer than 1,200 sq. ft. of floor space, while 36.7% of those in the $15,000-$20,000 class also fell short of the mark. Buyers had to pay $20,000 before most builders included three bedrooms; even then, 17.4% offered only two bedrooms.

The complaints are not merely on size alone. In today's buyers' market, people are no longer satisfied with yesterday's dominolike housing developments. Location and landscaping have become vital. In Southern Cali fornia's Orange County, long one of the state's boomingest areas, thousands of houses are going begging, while developments in the San Fernando Valley are still a sellout. One big reason is that Orange County is becoming heavily industrialized; people would rather live in pleasant, factory-free surroundings even though they may have to drive 30 miles to work. The story is the same in Atlanta, where builders are discovering that prospective buyers flock to developments in the rolling suburban hills, pass up those set on the flatlands. Detroit's developers are also learning that they must lay out gently winding rather than block-square streets, set houses in different positions on the lots, and leave the trees standing.

Much of the bloom has gone off the "contemporary-modern" and rambling ranch-type dwelling. Many home buyers want architecture to match their climate. Furthermore, so many builders put up cheap imitations of modern designs that even where glassed-in modern houses are suitable, many buyers are going back to traditional designs. The hottest sellers in Dallas this year are Georgian. Colonial and even houses with French Provincial trims, but all are modified to give the kind of light, cool living that buyers demand in the Texas climate. In Califor nia, the swing to traditional houses has brought back "Cinderella" and "Storybook" houses with leaded-glass windows and dormers.

Inside, the great cry is for better planning, more closets and storage space, bigger kitchens and bathrooms. On the West Coast, many builders consider that "two full baths are a must." Oversized living rooms are growing less popular. Instead, families ask for a smaller, more formal living room for guests and a second, paneled "family room" for everyday living. As for living rooms themselves, today's buyer wants a fireplace in a $10,000 house, whereas 87% of the $10.000 homes in the 1955 Labor Department survey had no fireplace. On the other hand, the great picture-window craze has been overdone. Too many picture windows face traffic-clogged streets or the neighbors' garbage cans.

As building costs--and home prices --soar higher, prospective buyers are also taking a hard look at the equipment built into new houses. In Texas builders of $100.000 houses can still pile on the gadgets by the carload: two dishwashers, built-in music systems, even air-conditioned doghouses. But in the lower price brackets, more and more families would rather pay for space, buy the gadgets later. Built-in TV is no longer in such great demand; neither are built-in dishwashers, waste disposals or other extras.

The demands for more attractive homes are all part of the rise in the U.S. standard of living. With more money, U.S. families are willing to pay more for the new. but they must feel it is an improvement on the old. For U.S. builders, the early postwar days when any old design would sell are fast dying. To keep on building some 1,200,000 new houses annually, they must meet changing consumer needs and desires much in the same way Detroit's automakers turn out an annual model change. And like the automen, who quickly caught on to postwar yearnings for longer, lower, higher-horsepowered cars, so U.S. homebuilders must ask the man who owns one, and listen to his ideas.

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