New Study shows Home Sizes Declining, Single-Story More Popular
The size of new single-family homes declined last year, dropping to a nationwide average of 2,438 square feet, according to numbers released by the Census Bureau.
After increasing continually for nearly three decades, the average size of single-family homes completed in the United States peaked at 2,521 square feet in 2007. It was essentially flat in 2008, then dropped in 2009, so that new single-family homes were almost 100 square feet smaller in 2009 than in 2007. The average number of bedrooms also has fallen, from 39% with 4 or more in 2005, to 34% in 2009; those with 3 bedrooms increased from 49% in 2005 to 53% last year.
“We also saw a decline in the size of new homes when the economy lapsed into recession in the early 1980s,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The decline of the early 1980s turned out to be temporary, but this time the decline is related to phenomena such as an increased share of first-time home buyers, a desire to keep energy costs down, smaller amounts of equity in existing homes to roll into the next home, tighter credit standards and less focus on the investment component of buying a home. Many of these tendencies are likely to persist and continue affecting the new home market for an extended period.”
In 1973, the first year for which the Census Bureau reports characteristics of single-family homes completed, most new single-family homes–67%–had only one story. Twenty-three percent had two or more stories, and 10% were split levels. The proportion of one-story homes declined steadily for more than three decades, dropping to a low of 43% in 2006 and 2007. At the same time, the proportion of single-family homes with two or more stories increased, rising from 23% in 1973 to a high of 57% in 2006 (split level homes currently account for less than one percent of all single-family homes). Since 2006 the trends have been reversed, as the share of single-family homes with one-story increased to 47% last year, while the share with two or more stories dropped to 53%.
Regionally,
*Three-car garages were found in only about 11% of homes in the Northeast and the South
*Brick construction was the leader in the South, where it was found in 40% of new single-family homes. Twenty-eight percent of new homes in the South had vinyl siding and 13% had stucco
*99% of homes in the South had air conditioning
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With Your Key to the Beach,
Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com
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(resource: RisMedia.com)