TecHome Builder Market Pulse Survey Spring 2018
About the 2018 TecHome Builder Market Pulse Survey 18 question online survey Invitation to 45,000+ on TecHome Builder e-newsletter list Incentive: executive summary report Fielded spring 2018 135 responses
Respondent Profile 3 All respondents building at least one home in 2018 Luxury Single Family 52% Primary business: 87% builder; 5% remodeler; 2% subcontractor; 6% other Job function: 65% executive management; 14% operations/purchasing; 10% sales, marketing, design; 12% other 2018 Revenue: $31.1 million average, $13.2 million median, 10.7% growth Custom Semi-Custom First-Time Move-Up Multi-Family 45% 42% 39% 38% 2018 Homes Built: 383 average; 48 median 29% - $50M or more revenue 27% - 500 or more homes built Starter Homes Vacation/Second Homes 14% 24% Top regions operating in: South Atlantic 37%; Pacific Coast 27%; South Central 25%; Rocky Mountain 18%; Midwest 17% Luxury Multi-Family 12% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Builder Attitudes About Technology 4 Our company can increase per-home profit by offering innovative technology options and amenities. 46% 46% Our company can increase per-home revenues by offering innovative technology options and amenities. 55% 41% Builders need to offer innovative technology options and amenities to win the business of Baby Boomer homebuyers. 39% 53% Builders need to offer innovative technology options and amenities to win the business of Millennial homebuyers. 60% 39% Every home we build should have a standard home automation system of some sort included. 45% 37% Our company is substantially more interested in offering innovative technology options and amenities in our homes than three years ago. 73% 25% Totally agree 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% Agree somewhat
Electrical, Lighting, HVAC Tech 5 LED lighting High-efficiency heating/cooling Smart/connected thermostats Tankless and hybrid water heaters Automated lighting control systems Automated ventilation systems (HRVs, ERVs) Energy monitoring and management Solar photovoltaic power generation Back-up generators and switches Motorized shading systems Motorized windows/doors Solar thermal Geothermal heating and cooling 7% 7% 8% 20% 22% 20% 19% 16% 14% 26% 32% 30% 42% 37% 44% 38% 48% 61% 59% 69% 73% 81% 84% 84% 87% 93% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% avg % included 2020 avg % included 2018
Appliances & Smart Water 6 Smart irrigation 35% 46% Smart/connected refrigerators 10% 27% Smart/connected dishwashers 9% 26% Smart/connected ovens and cook tops 10% 26% Smart/connected washers & dryers 10% 26% Rain water harvesting/grey water systems 11% 20% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% avg % included 2020 avg % included 2018
Electronics/HA, AV and Security 7 Structured wiring systems 72% 75% Alarm systems 67% 71% Electronic locks 47% 66% Home automation systems 44% 59% Video surveillance systems 42% 58% Multi-room audio/architectural speakers 45% 54% Speech recognition for control 25% 51% Home theaters 29% 35% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% avg % included 2020 avg % included 2018
Home tech most excited to pursue in next year 8 Air quality management Automated window blinds Clean air CLED applications Electronic locks Energy monitoring Energy saving products Entry controls Face recognition Full immersion AV Geothermal Home Automation (11) Josh.ai Lighting controls(3) Monitoring through apps Secure home automation Self generated power storage Smart garage door openers Smart glass Smart HVAC Solar energy (3) Speech recognition (3) Vacancy management Voice control through Alexa/Google/Siri (10) Water monitoring Whole house Wifi systems(3) Most exciting voice control, home automation, energy management.
Percentage of Home Sale Price Attributed to Tech 9 14.0% 12.7% 12.0% 11.3% 10.0% 9.8% 8.0% 8.2% 6.6% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Companies used to design, install and service tech 10 Type of Tech AV install co. Security install co. Electrical contractor HVAC contractor Cable TV/Phone co. Electrical power co. Install with in-house resources Other Do not install Home automation 70% 29% 29% 10% 7% 3% 6% 8% 4% Entertainment/AV systems 77% 21% 10% 2% 2% 2% 1% 6% 6% Structured wiring 60% 23% 41% 2% 3% 2% 1% 7% 1% Wireless networks 66% 23% 9% 1% 9% 2% 3% 8% 6% Connected controls for HVAC 28% 7% 10% 78% 1% 3% 2% 3% 2% Solar power generation 1% 1% 16% 1% 0% 6% 1% 40% 42% Connected appliances 17% 5% 14% 0% 0% 2% 8% 31% 39%
Rating of tech contractor partners 11 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 57% 60% 58% 60% 55% 68% 30% 20% 10% 33% 26% 24% 21% 15% 12% 0% System Installation System Design Sales/Custom Consultation After-Occupancy Service & Support Very Satisfied Somewhat Satisfied Not too Satisfied Not at all Satisfied Homebuyer Training Marketing
Top Pain Points with Tech Contractors 12 Being willing to work on smaller systems and not expecting every job to be a big dollar project. Can't explain the benefits to the buyer Clients not understanding how to operate the systems. Clients not willing to invest the money. Clients perception of what the system should cost. Communication to non technical clients. Compatibility of systems with the changing technology and standards. Consistency. Consumer fear and reluctance to accept change. Cost. Cost not being consistent between companies and too many options. Customer service. Customers not seeing the value of automation systems after seeing the pricing. Designers and installers not thinking through the aesthetic of the final product. Designing a system that is easy to use with training for end user. Finding a company that doesn't overcharge for non traditional home automation. Homebuyer training. Homeowners expect the builders to fix the problems instead of troubleshooting. Installers being up to speed on all the latest tech and voice control. Installers not listening to or understanding the clients wants/needs. Keeping it simple with affordable security and tech solutions that will talk to each other. Long term performance. Making sure they know more than a buyer Need equal training and knowledge across all employees. Over design of system instead of multi stage approach. Post install support is lacking. Prices are all over the board, each sub has a different idea. Proper setup and troubleshoot of all systems. Reducing credibility as a contractor when AV tries to overcharge from the list price of the products. Scheduling on our time frame. Scheduling time with installers. Showing up on time. Sometimes customers want really elaborate systems that we don t offer. Staying current and up to date. The passion for the product interferes with each clients individual interest. They also don't understand they are part of a whole home climate and building/remodeling process not just an ancillary add on. The systems never work. My clients are part time vacation users. Every time they arrive to use the houses I have to have the AV guys go to the house to check the operations. Too complicated or confusing to the clients. Too much tech-talk with my customers. Training homeowners properly. Waiting on the owner for connectivity. We need better direction and influence from the "experts". We don't know what we don't know and would love for someone to tell us what the market wants and help us implement it. Builders are looking for...simplicity, more moderately priced systems, more predictable evolution of tech, better collaboration at the job site, better homebuyer training and support.
13 For a copy of the TecHome Builder Market Pulse Survey slides and AE Ventures Housing Stat Pack jgalante@ae-ventures.com