New Year Brings New Building Trends And Buyer Preferences

With 2024 officially started, let's take a look at the expected trends for this year in the real-estate world including colour, new builds and renovations.

In terms of colour Pantone has named 13-1023 Peach Fuzz as the colour of the year for 2024.

The colour is described by the Pantone Colour Institute as a comforting hue 'softly nestled between pink and orange' that was chosen to express a yearning for community and cosiness during uncertain times.

This notion of cosiness is reflected in the building and renovations trends noticed by hipages tradie member and owner of Kubra Building Services Martin Nguyen.

Martin has noticed more customisation in homes to suit the owner’s lifestyle and preferences, multifunctional spaces and outdoor areas becoming more comfortable and usable.

“An overall trend I’ve noticed is people spending money on little things they feel like they’re getting a lot out of, like renovations that aren’t structural and are under $30,000,” he said.

These additions include updates like making the space under a staircase a beautiful wine rack with lighting or cabinetry with lighting rather than just a storage space.

However, Martin believes the number one trend for 2024 will be fought between multifunctional spaces and outdoor spaces being made to feel more like indoors.

Multifunctional spaces
These spaces look like home offices which also have usable cabinetry which folds down into a bed when a spare room is needed or garages with a golf simulator that folds down from the ceiling.

“The average block size is getting a little smaller and people are getting a lot smarter with their money,”

“In the past people would need to do an extension to add a study.”

To create a multifunctional space in an existing home can be done with a mix of design and building skills.

With smart design the cabinetry can be designed to fit the room and offer storage while having a bed behind it which folds down to create a spare room when required.

Outdoor spaces
Outdoor areas are becoming more comfortable with more of an outdoor-indoor feel. Most spaces have a fireplace or fire pit, outdoor kitchen or barbecue, TV and fans.

In new builds these spaces are integrated from the start but in existing homes it can still be achieved by enclosing the outdoor space using outdoor blinds.

“This is the most common addition people are making that makes a huge difference without being a huge change,” Martin said.

“I see it a lot with families who want a separate area for kids to hang out with their friends.”

Customisation
Adding custom features to homes to suit the owners’ preferences or even for the owner to complete themselves is also on the rise.

The reason behind this trend is three-fold. People are getting inspiration from others on social media and wanting to do some DIY, wanting to save some money and wanting to customise their home to really fit their lifestyle.

One of Martin’s recent high-end builds saw the owners build their own concrete table after seeing it on social media.

“People are seeing things on Instagram and wanting to give those little projects a go,” Martin said.

“It means they save a bit of money, and it makes their home more personalised.”

With the increasing popularity of hot and cold plunge therapy Martin has also noticed saunas becoming a more common addition to homes.

“Timber saunas are becoming popular. I've had two or three people install them recently and before 2023 I hadn’t really seen any,” Martin said.

So, get ready for 2024 with peach tones, multifunctional spaces, more comfortable outdoor spaces and customised additions.

All these trends can be incorporated into new and existing homes with relative ease and are sure to be sought after by buyers.