Americans Downsize: Homes Built in 2009 Were Smaller Than Past Years

• June 15, 2010
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by Will Smith

A couple weeks ago, we wrote about a trend toward mini houses, tiny one-bedroom affairs that are often smaller than 200 square feet. While hardly mainstream, these cubby houses for grownups are one more piece of anecdotal evidence that Americans are downsizing.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported some hard data that further verifies the trend. The average size of a single-family home constructed last year was 2,438 square feet, according to the National Association of Home Builders. In 2007 and 2008, the average was 2,521. Square footage wasn’t the only thing that decreased in new homes: the average number of bedrooms and bathrooms did as well, and the percentage of single-level homes rose to 47 percent from a low of 43 percent a few years earlier.

The question is whether this trend is a just a momentary blip, as home builders are forced to compete with foreclosures and accommodate tighter pocketbooks. After all, Americans downsized in the recession of the early 1980s. Or is this part of a more lasting trend away from the iconic McMansion? National Association of Home Builders chief economist David Crowe thinks it’s the latter:

“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.”

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/americans_downsize_homes_built_in_2009_were_smaller_than_past_years/2170

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