Houston -- More than 67,000 people -- builders, suppliers, reporters -- crammed into the Astrodome to see the future of homebuilding.
At the National Association of Home Builders convention, held here last weekend, visitors looked at ultralight concrete building blocks that can be sawed and nailed like wood. They played with plastic bricks designed to light a path at night. They saw fiberglass garage doors that look like wood but last longer.
And few could ignore the shower designed for the romantic at heart. The stall is large enough for two people and is outfitted with a CD stereo.
If it's any indication of American priorities, 20,000 more people came out for the builders' show than for the Republican National Convention held here in 1992. Builders hope the outcome will be better for them than it was then for the Republicans. But the early evidence isn't encouraging.
Builders were advised to proceed cautiously with home starts in 1995 because the housing industry appears to be headed toward a slowdown.
"Play it close to the vest. There's no reason to go out on a limb right now," said David Seiders, chief economist for the homebuilders association. He said rising mortgage interest rates will lower single-family housing starts by 8 percent in 1995, with little pickup until the middle of 1996.
"It may not be severe," Mr. Seiders said, "but I think a slowdown is definitely in the cards."
Builder Robert L. Mitchell of Mitchell & Best Homes of Rockville, Md., said builders will struggle to make profits in 1995 in the Baltimore-Washington area. "It's going to be a difficult time," Mr. Mitchell said.
Affordability is a big issue for the homebuilding industry because many young families are unable to buy a house.
The homeownership rate for the general population has remained about 64 percent since the early 1980s. But for young adults, the number has fallen considerably.
One-third of all adults 25 to 29 years old own homes. In the early 1970s, the percentage was 44 percent.
"Today's young adults are on a lower homeownership trajectory than were their parents," said Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, who spoke at the convention.
In response, many builders are looking for ways to build less-expensive houses.
For example, Duane Marlink of Marlink Builders of Grand Rapids, Mich., is building 800-square-foot single-family homes, some selling for as little as $50,000.
"People are happy as you meet them because this is their first home," said Mr. Marlink, who keeps prices down because the squarish houses are easy for contractors to build, often within two months.
Builders are also holding down costs by literally cutting corners.
They were advised that they could avoid designs with walls that jut out in several places -- straight walls are cheaper to build. Or build gas-fueled fireplaces that vent directly outside, eliminating the need for a chimney.
Architect Audrey Follmer of Austin, Texas, said construction costs can be held down by using vinyl flooring instead of ceramic tile, Sheetrock with brass trim around fireplaces instead of brick, or Sheetrock instead of wood for staircases and kitchen islands.
But what held most visitors' attention at the convention was the latest gizmos on display.
Bob Goldman was hawking a reddish plastic brick for edging a walkway on a flower bed. The brick, called "Let's Edge It" or "Let's Light It" and made by Agree Corp. of San Diego, contains clear panels with lights to illuminate a pathway at night.
There was a curved vent hood with a glass visor for kitchen ranges, compliments of Broan Manufacturing of Hartford, Conn.
And a fiberglass garage door, from Composite Industries of Chicago, that sells for $1,700 and can be stained to look like wood.
There were gas fireplaces, computer software for architects, cellular phones, carpet, stairs, plastic pipe, microwave ovens, doorbells, cabinets, air conditioners -- almost anything found in, on or around a home.
One of the highlights was the shower from Jacuzzi. A woman working at the display said the shower was "ideal for side-by-side showering." She said it was equipped with a CD player to "create just the mood you are looking for."