Home builders apparently don't know the 55-plus buyer as well as they should.

Surveys by the National Association of Home Builders and MetLife Mature Market Institute show a significant difference between what builders are including in new houses for the 55 + population and what their would-be customers prefer.

Developers are including wider doors and hallways, lever-handle door knobs associated with universal design recommendations, but consumers aren't necessarily keen on those.

Instead, aging boomers want non-slip floors, larger medicine cabinets, lower kitchen cabinets and emergency call buttons, which builders see as less important.

Developers also want to provide green-building features while consumers, while supportive, aren't willing to pay too much (a median of $4,000 extra for utility cost savings of $1,000 per year) more for them.

Boomers also want developers to include provisions for services, such as home repair, transportation and housecleaning. Builders, however, are reluctant to move into that area.

To me, the most striking assessment was that many 55+ - contrary to what many builders say - don't plan to downsize. Instead, they want to stay at about the same size; "same-sizing," the survey said.