Over the past four days, I've seen a lot of product, including models from KB Home, Pulte Homes, and Woodside Homes. At the same time, I've talked to numerous public builder and private builder executives in the market about what they see as the latest and greatest in terms of product development trends, getting some interesting--and diverse--perspective on products such as KB's Open Series, Meritage Homes' Simply Smart, Shea's Spaces, and Pardee Homes' LivingSmart lines.

So, here's my takeaway on what we'll be seeing lots more of in the year ahead:

• The nice price. Affordable product will continue to be the name of the game in 2010. The move-up market will still be overshadowed by the entry-level market, but even those price ranges will inch down as products are down spec-ed.
  
  Here, in Las Vegas, you've got to be building for about $35 to $40 a square foot to be at all competitive. But the interesting thing to note is that although the public builders in the market may have gotten out of the gate faster in terms of being able to get that cost per square foot down, it's clear that they've no longer got a corner on that market. The herd has followed the publics' lead fast and furiously, with many private builders able to get product out of the ground for $37, $38, or $39 a square foot. You should smell something burning because competition most definitely is heating up.
  
  
• The green standard. Move over laminate countertops, linoleum flooring, and 30-inch cabinets because enviro-friendly products such as Energy Star appliances, low-e windows, and low-flow faucets are the latest products to be added to builders' lists of standard home features. Once upgrades, these products, particularly those that are focused on saving energy, are becoming the new baseline.
  
  Who's doing this? Meritage announced today that its newly coined Simply Smart products will be "Energy Star-qualified, with materials, construction practices, and appliances that combine to make these homes 20-30% more energy efficient than homes built to the current International Residential Code." Pardee Homes, too, recently announced an expansion of its LivingSmart option program. From now on, all Pardee homes will be labeled LivingSmart, as many of the program's menu options have been made standard features, making the homes more energy, water, earth, and health conscious.  
  
  
• Single-level living. For all the talk about affordability and energy efficiency, by far the most interesting trend I saw during my travels across the Vegas market was that builders seemed to be very focused on developing some new single-story product. Honestly, I was a little surprised to hear that. Single-level product seems like something to focus on when you're targeting the active-adult or move-down buyer--and that segment is clearly not where builders are focused today. It's all entry-level all the time.
  
  Not to mention that single-story product can be more expensive to build, believe it or not. As one private builder explained, when you get into the larger square footages, it becomes increasingly more cost effective to build a two-story home than a one-story home. So, for example--and this is just to illustrate the point rather than to give you hard numbers--if you're building, say, an 1,800-square-foot home, the cost per square foot is probably around the same no matter if you're building a one- or two-story home. However, when you move up to a 2,500-square-foot home, the cost per square foot goes down by a handful of dollars for a two-story while staying about the same for a one-story because the one-story footprint is larger, requiring a bigger slab and, therefore, bigger bucks.
  
  So, why are so many builders in the Vegas market focused on bringing more single-story product to market if it can be less cost conscious? Foreclosures. Foreclosures still make for stiff competition for local builders, particularly in submarkets like North Las Vegas. And as it turns out, the bulk of the foreclosure inventory happens to be two stories. So, builders are seeing an opportunity to gain an edge on that competition by being able to offer similarly priced product that has the added benefits of one-story living. So, given what I saw out in the field, I imagine if I came back to Vegas this time next year, I'd see one-story product a much bigger percentage of the product mix than it is today.

For more information on these and additional product trends, be sure to check out my video. (If you can't see the player below, click here to view.)