More than 240 exhibits were featured at the Residential Design and Construction convention and trade show last week at Boston’s Seaport World Trade Center.

Neighborhood, home size and cost are what most buyers consider when searching for a property. But those elements don’t necessarily add up to a well-designed home.

“That equals a crappy house,” said Duo Dickinson, an award-winning architect from Madison.

Dickinson was one of five panelists who spoke at a session at the fourth annual Residential Design and Construction convention and trade show, which featured more than 240 exhibits last week at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. The workshop, “Beyond Curb Appeal: A New-Home Autopsy,” included homebuilders, a Realtor and a resident of Lincoln, Mass., who hired an architectural team to remake his home. It was moderated by home renovation consultant Bruce Irving, a former executive producer of television’s “This Old House.”

The panelists discussed how housing in today’s world is being driven by market forces that call for large cookie-cutter houses with a certain amount of square footage and specific types of rooms.

“What [builders are] going to build is what the market demands,” said Dickinson. Part of what architects and builders have to do is to “build affordable houses that look well and function well,” he said.

Scott Miller, a developer and remodeler who has built over 400 homes in New England, said he must consider what size, price point and design will appeal to buyers, particularly when he’s building houses on spec.

“If I pick the wrong size or floor plan, it may have curb appeal but it won’t sell,” he said. Local builders like Miller have been squeezed over the last decade as national homebuilding companies have started constructing large subdivisions in New England.

Finley Perry, a Hopkinton, Mass.-based custom homebuilder, said most homeowners have little appreciation for the complexity and design that goes into homes.

Terry Maitland, a broker with LandVest who has represented high-end clients, said he’s only had two buyers ask about what features to include in a house.

Maitland noted that most wealthy buyers want to first “please themselves” instead of considering resale value. But he said more traditional homes have broader appeal.

“Contemporary houses are awfully difficult to sell,” he noted.

Len Darling, a former businessman who built a custom home in Lincoln, Mass., said he didn’t consider whether certain features in his house would make it more difficult to re-sell. Darling hired Eck MacNeely Architects to build his residence. But he acknowledged that the home, with its balcony, big staircase and open space, wouldn’t necessarily attract a family with young children.

“We were looking for long-term value,” he said.