Suburban Housing Trends: What Buyers Want In New Builds

Just like fashion, technology, and pop culture, housing has trends that both consumers and the market follow and adapt to. Whether it’s the recent popularity of mid-century modern or minimalist décor, or the integration of smart technology into a home, you can be sure that new homes will have a veritable laundry list of the trendiest and most popular features. Here, we’ll take a look at what suburban home buyers want from their new builds in 2025.

Suburban Home Trends of 2025

With the tumultuous beginning of the 2020s, many people had to adapt to a new way of life, including working from home. With many people transitioning to fully remote or hybrid roles, the desire for homes that could accommodate those circumstances increased as well. Suburban homes, which usually feature multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, come partially equipped to deal with these challenges. To learn more about design trends in 2025, visit this article!

Floor Plans and Architecture

One of the most popular home floor plans in 2024 was the open floor plan. Also called “open concept”, open floor plan homes are homes that combine two or more rooms that would typically be divided by a wall and/or a door. Open floor plans homes are common in suburban areas nowadays; one of their biggest appeals is that they can make a small space feel larger. For example, a living room in a suburban home may feel small depending on the square footage of the house, but knocking out the wall between the kitchen and the living room suddenly make that space feel much larger without actually needing a massive remodel of the home.

As far as architecture and design are concerned, tiny homes and barn and ranch-style homes saw a rise in popularity in 2024, specifically the “barndominium” style. Barndominiums, or barndos, are typically barns that have been converted into homes, but also refer to newly built, open-floor plan homes with a barn-like exterior design. “Tiny homes” is a colloquial term for houses that are usually around 100-400 square feet. Both types of homes have different appeals; tiny homes are great for single people or couples without children who want to save money on space, as well as incredible customization in terms of visual design. Barndominiums are the opposite, providing more space and a rustic, country aesthetic. While both styles present a unique challenge as far as suburban building is concerned, their rise in popularity has seen more of them cropping up in or near suburban neighborhoods.

Bringing the Office Home

People all over the world have transitioned into working from home part or full time since the 2020s began. This trend has resulted in the need for a workspace in the home, separate from living spaces. Since many suburban homes have multiple bedrooms, it’s very possible for one or more of the spare bedrooms to be converted into an office. If you’re building the house with the intent that one of the rooms will be an office, there are a few design choices you could consider implementing.

One way to maintain a healthy working environment from home is to make sure you’re getting plenty of natural light. Many home offices have large windows to let some sunlight in throughout the day.

While working from home, it’s likely that you’ll be on lots of video calls. It’s important to make sure your setting is professional, and your sound quality is good, so investing in the proper setup for your office will go a long way. Setting up sound-insulation boards on the walls behind or around your desk will help reduce reverb, and have the added benefit of providing a simply, non-distracting background to your video.

Ergonomics is a word that’s thrown around a lot without proper explanation; for something to be “ergonomic” means that something is designed with efficiency and comfort in the workplace, according to Merriam-Webster. To achieve a physically healthier workplace, some companies have invested in creating office appliances with ergonomic features, such as standing desks to help with cardiovascular circulation, padded mousepads to reduce wrist muscle strain, and chairs that are curved to fit the contours of the human spine to promote good posture.

To learn about home office design in more detail, consider checking out this article on newhomesource.com.

Smart Technology

While it’s been around for a bit, smart technology has been steadily making its way into many aspects of the home. One of the most popular pieces of smart technology in recent years is the video doorbell. Video doorbells connect to an app that allows the owner to see their front door without having to get up to check who or what is there. Since these cameras typically connect through a mobile app, they can be accessed from anywhere, as long as the owner has their phone and an internet connection. This provides both convenience and security for the owner, right from their mobile devices.

Smart speakers are another kind of smart technology that has made its way into many aspects of the home. Tools like the Amazon Echo or the Apple HomePod are more than just speakers; they can make lists, take notes, look things up, make calls, and send messages among other things. For suburban families with kids, smart speakers can play soft music to help babies and young children relax, or help kids in elementary school with their homework by answering basic questions. They’ve evolved from a fun, novel way to listen to music into a full-blown home economics tool.

With the explosion of AI technology in recent years, smart technologies in the home aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. To learn more about popular smart home tech and how you can implement it into your new home, check out this article.

Sustainability and Green Building

Companies and private citizens all over the world in many different industries have taken steps in the last few decades to be more conscious of the effects they have on the environment. The home-building industry is no different; there has been a push to implement environmentally friendly construction and materials. Sustainability, or building structures intended to last for a long time, is one of the main goals of green building. This ensures the home will see use from more than one family over the course of its existence, and lowers carbon emissions by virtue of eliminating construction of a replacement home.

There are a number of ways to build “green”, most of which involve the materials used to construct the home. Recycling materials to lower waste, utilizing mass timber to reduce the home’s carbon footprint, and 3D printing concrete are some of the more popular and effective methods of green construction. Reducing energy and water consumption helps to keep the carbon emissions down as well; solar panels have gained traction with suburban consumers, and some buyers have their builders implement them during the construction phase. To get some ideas on how you can build green in your suburb, look at this guide!

These are a few of the most popular trends in suburban home construction that are likely to continue into 2025. To learn more about suburban living and home construction, visit newhomesource.com/learn.