Why bad housing design pumps up prices for everyone
Check out this article written by Wendy Miller, a Senior Research Fellow at Queensland University of Technology.
Light House homes require minimal heating over winter and little to no active cooling in summer. This is just one of the beauties, and values, of good design. Only two of our homes have ever been sold, and have both achieved sales of 16% above the expected market value of family homes with the same numbers of rooms but larger floor areas. Proving that there is market for smaller, smarter, sustainable housing. This is particularly interesting when you consider that pre-construction our homes are often undervalued by property valuers and lending institutions when compared to 'equivalent' homes in the market because they don't have air conditioners, central heating systems or take up the entire block! Ridiculous, right?
This article explores some fundamental issues in the real estate and property sector, the state of Australian housing stock, the unfortunate trend of valuing 'surface bling' over the bigger picture, and the utter importance of quality design, materials and construction.