A typical townhouse might have suited some buyers. But David M. Doggette wasn't in the market for typical.
When the 24-year-old computer programmer got a chance to buy the house he'd been dreaming of since college, he looked for something with privacy for himself and the roommate he'd need for help with payments. He found such a home in Russett in Anne Arundel County -- a townhouse with two master bedrooms.
Mr. Doggette plans to rent the second bedroom and someday make it an office. He hasn't missed having a third bedroom. "The two small bedrooms are so small they're only good for kids, and I don't plan on having children before moving out," he said.
Besides families with children, new homebuyers today are even more likely to be young singles with roommates like Mr. Doggette, single parents with children, couples and their elderly parents or empty-nesters whose children have returned.
As the baby boom generation ages and the traditional nuclear family slips to minority status, the homebuilding industry is catering more and more to nontraditional buyers with different lifestyles and needs, said Joseph M. Cronyn, a senior associate for Legg Mason Realty Group, which tracks new home construction in the Baltimore region.
"Go back 40 or 50 years, you got three bedrooms and that was it," Mr. Cronyn said. "Freedom of choice is necessary now to appeal to diverse groups."
Today's buyers also tend to live in homes longer before selling, spend more time there and value conveniences that save time and reduce maintenance.
With the shifts in lifestyles and demographics, builders have begun offering more easily adaptable floor plans.
"What's hot right now is real good quality space," said Bob Lucido of Builders 1st Choice, a sales and marketing agency representing 50 builders in Baltimore, Washington and Virginia. "That's good sizes in the kitchens, family rooms, bedrooms, making sure there's enough space they won't have to move out of. They want it to feel big and open and airy."
Living rooms and dining rooms have shrunk in importance and size. Family rooms have grown bigger. Kitchens are apt to open into sun rooms. And with more people working home, first-floor offices -- away from kids' bedrooms -- have surged in popularity.
