Luxury Home’s Most Popular Features Change

     Marble baths are big right now.  So are rooftop decks, and oversized windows.  But demand for barbeque grills, once a hot commodity, has changed considerably since last year.  But what about hardwood floors and plantation shutters?

     The shifting sands of consumer tastes are revealed in the latest “lab report” from the Trulia.com website which examined the last two years of luxury home listings to see what amenities are trending up, and trending down.

     Some of the changes are dramatic.  Marble baths appear in luxury listings 78 percent more than they did a year earlier.  Mentions of marble floors are up 30 percent. Rooftop decks and terraces are 63 and 42 percent more common, respectively, than they were last year.  Oversized windows have seen a 56% surge.  Similarly, floor to ceiling windows are up 39 percent, and ceiling windows are up 37 percent.

     Rounding out the list of Top Ten gainers this year are storage space up 42 percent, wine rooms up 30 percent, and home gyms up 28 percent. Hardwood floors and plantation  shutters saw a 13 percent decline, and covered patios are down 11 percent.

     Meanwhile, lush landscaping and fireplaces are both down 9 percent, while listings with swimming pools  sank by 7 percent.