Throughout the current housing downturn, which began in late 2005, some sectors within the residential construction market — including the kitchen and bath niche — have fared better than others, according to the results of a new survey.

The latest in a quarterly series of “Home Design Trends Surveys” conducted by the Washington, D.C., based American Institute of Architects (AIA) revealed that homes targeted to first-time buyers, as well as those targeted to younger households trading up to a larger home, are apparently the weakest sectors of the housing market.

Only 5 percent of survey respondents reported that the first-time buyer market was improving in the fourth quarter of 2007, while 69 percent felt it was weakening, resulting in a composite score of -64. The trade-up housing sector fared only slightly better, with 6 percent of respondents reporting it improving and 51 percent feeling it was weakening, for a composite score of -45.

Other major residential construction sectors — second/vacation homes, townhouses and condos, and custom and luxury homes — are all reported to be seeing “serious declines,” according to the AIA.

In contrast, the remodeling sectors — both additions and alterations to existing homes and kitchen and bath remodels — are reported as “healthy and relatively strong,” although not as strong as they were a year ago. More than a third of the residential architects surveyed rated those sectors to be improving, with fewer than 15 percent rating them as weakening, the AIA added.