This article in The Des Moines Register demonstrates that curb appeal is a big factor in home sale speed and price, and that brick’s appeal to buyers is fairly universal.  Do you have a glut of homes for sale in your community?  Homes selling below market or assessed value?  How many of those homes are clad in brick rather than other materials?

It’s a fact that home owners over the last 10-20 years had little choice in the materials used on the homes they bought from tract builders, which is why we now have subdivision after subdivision filled with cheaply-sided homes indistinguishable from their neighbors.  Design standards could have prevented that.

I know, I know — no one wants the local government telling home owners how to build their homes because we want to preserve choice.  But, how much choice has the average home buyer had when picking a new subdivision home?  By using design standards to insist that developers build with quality and variety,  communities can ensure choice and provide neighborhoods that are more resilient to economic downturns.