Builders Seen Aiming for Lower Home Prices and Fewer ‘Frills’

Buyers of houses may be able to get less for less, thanks to the stock market tumble.

That’s the forecast of Bernard S. Schreft, executive vice president of the Greenman Group Inc., a consulting firm based in Hollywood, Fla.

Because of what he calls “the aura of fear about making major capital expenditures,” Schreft sees builders offering short-term incentives as well as changing building plans to make new houses cost less.

Builders don’t like to advertise sales because it reduces the perceived value of their houses, he said.

Therefore, Schreft believes that during this winter and spring, builders will offer as options features that had been standard. These include skylights, wet bars and landscaping.

In order to reduce prices, builders, when they can, will also build smaller houses on smaller lots. They will also build more attached and fewer detached houses, he said.