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Greying Market To Demand Fancier Homes
Hammer another nail into the
coffin. As if it weren’t thoroughly
entombed already, the image o f the
“Ozzie and Harriet” household —
the comfy white cottage, the two
groomed children, the enduring mar­
riage, among other icons— just took
another whack. This one came from
a panel o f trend-watchers who had
been assembled to weigh in on the
kinds o f homes that will be built at
the turn o f the new century and the
people who will live in them.
Starting with the mantra that a
huge segment o f the population is
approaching old age, the analysts
predicted that this graying market
will engage in a swell o f buying
“moveup” homes — bigger and fan­
cier houses, chock-lull o f electronic
objects and other creature comforts.
And these homes increasingly will
be inhabited, not by Nelsons, but by
families with names like Garcia and
Kim, the analysts said. These were
some o f the conclusions o f noted
trend- watchers — a demographer,
an architect, a technology expert and
a leading Chicago home builder
offered at “Looking Ahead to the
21st Century: Homes and Communi­
ties o f the Future” an annual seminar
organized by the National Associa­
tion o f Home Builders.
The panelists pointed out that the
shift away from that simple cottage of
yore has been rumbling around the
country for a while, and the home
building industry has adapted accord­
ingly. But they also noted that more
attention should be paid to the people
who will buy these houses, as they are
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becoming more monied, more sophis­
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burgeoning moveup market, already
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