March 20, 2009

Despite the current economy and decline in the housing market, builders have not abandoned home technologies, according to new findings in the 7th Annual State of the Builder Technology Market Study released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

A
majority of builders remain committed to home technology and recognize
its importance in marketing new homes, says CEA. Consumer desire for
electronics helped preserve builder revenue in the current housing
market. 71% of builders report that technology helped them preserve
home renovation revenue that might otherwise have declined this year
because of the down economy—an increase of ten percentage points from
last year.



“Home
technology is poised to take off as the economy and housing market
improves,” said Steve Koenig, CEA’s director, industry analysis.
“Builders are aware of the value of home technology and have increased
their marketing efforts, suggesting builders are leaving no stone
unturned to help move inventories while recognizing the importance of
home technology for consumers.”



Builders
are finding more selling points in entertainment-related technology
features, which corresponds with the growing consumer trend to stay at
home in light of the economy. Builders have increased
entertainment-related offerings such as multi-room audio (69%) and home
theatres (74%) in 2008. Home theatre installation was up eight
percentage points in 2008 and was the only category that did not
decrease or remain the same in overall installations.



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