This was a fascinating question I was asked once by a buyer who was looking to move to Kirkwood.  I really didn’t know how to answer, as no one knows the future.  We do know that there are always trends.  For example, you see new homes enter the marketplace primarily due to demand.  After all, if no one wanted a new house, builders wouldn’t be able to afford to build them.  What usually happens is that an older house starts to get outdated and the cost of bringing that home up to current desired living standards would be prohibitive.

As a real estate broker, I’m pretty torn on the infill phenomena….let’s go over the main benefits and possible downsides for a new construction home and I’ll leave it to you to decide if it’s something you’d like to pursue.

Pros

  1. New construction is far more energy efficient. With new energy and building codes, there is no question that new homes are far more efficient than older homes.
  2. New construction homes have the features today’s buyers want. As you look at homes across St. Louis, you see these “boom” building times in the neighborhoods, the 1920’s, the 1960’s, and in St. Charles, the 1980’s and 90’s…What new home buyers wanted then is not necessarily what new home buyers want now.  For example, the 1st floor master suite is big now, but 10-20 years ago, very few people considered it a must have.
  3. New construction homes can invigorate neighborhoods. Assume a house has been built with an 800 sq ft imprint.  Over the years new owners have added out and up and now you have a 1400 sq ft or larger home.  Unfortunately, that house was never designed to be that big, there are odd twists and turns in the home and it doesn’t have a good flow.  In this situation, there’s little neighbors can do to get “new blood” on the street as the houses are just too small for growing families, and too expensive for first time home buyers.

Cons

  1. New construction homes can also destroy neighborhoods. I used to drive down one of the main streets in Kirkwood to get to an office.  At the beginning of the block, the houses were falling apart, somewhere about the middle of the street, there are houses built within the past 3 years, and at the end of the street are houses built in the 80’s.  There is absolutely no aesthetic or combined curb appeal.
  2. New construction homes can cause concern among current homeowners. How would you like it if your neighbor’s house was torn down and a new two story house gets built right next to you, sometimes with a buyer who has paid hundreds of thousands more for their house?  It’s odd.  Now you start to wonder when your house is going to get torn down…will anyone want to buy your house when you want to sell it?

You can see where this issue isn’t as simple as saying “no” to new home construction.  The easiest thing to say is that there needs to be a balance, and one thing that communities can do is require homes to be designed to where they fit in the neighborhood style a little better.

When working with buyers in areas where new homes are going up, I make sure to talk to them about what may or may not happen in their neighborhood as time goes on.  While we never know, it is my opinion that having the conversation is better than buyers being surprised when the house next to them disappears and a new one is built.