Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406060174
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: T.J. BECKER CHICAGO TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Whatever the sound byte, concern over crime and violence - which national consumer surveys now say has replaced the economy as the No. 1 domestic problem - has permeated residential real estate, influencing how today's homes are designed, built, bought and sold.
According to the Uniform Crime Reports from the U.S. Department of Justice, a violent crime is committed in America every 17 seconds, a murder every 21 minutes, a rape every five minutes, a robbery every 46 seconds and a burglary every 10 seconds.
While the figures indicate violent crime is decreasing, the statistics are "irrelevant if it's happened to you," said Pete Halter, a real estate consultant in Atlanta. "When was the last time you left your car or house unlocked?" he asks.
Residential security has become almost an obsession with Americans, according to experts, many of whom blame the media for "sensationalizing" and "merchandising" crime and violence.
Indeed, once relegated to retirement communities, anxiety over home security transcends seniors, pervading all markets today.
"That means all geographic locations - suburban as well as urban - and all price ranges," said Dan Levitan, senior vice president at The Greenman Group, a real estate market research and consulting firm in Hollywood, Fla.
One sign of the times is the rapid growth of security systems.
"Home security [systems] weren't an issue three years ago. Now it's like asking for a fireplace," said Priscilla Jessup, president of the Denmark Group, an Atlanta marketing firm that works with home builders.
"I think almost every house we've done in the last five years had a security system . . . I don't remember that when I started practice in 1985," said Linda Searl, an architect and a recent past-president of the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
The home security industry is "growing unbelievably," said Sheila Blake, director of home automation and security markets for Honeywell in Minneapolis.
Currently, about 18 to 20 percent of homes have some type of security system, Blake said.
The inclusion of security and security systems may pay off in measurable appreciation, Levitan predicted. "Dwellings without security will have substantially less market value in the future," he said.
Sensing this, home builders are starting to prewire most homes for security systems, and in some cases, install systems as part of construction, experts said.
by CNB