New Single-Family Homes May Be Shrinking

• February 26, 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

While the size of a new home began trending upward after the national post-recession recovery, new statistics show that the median square footage for the average new single-family home dropped at the end of last year.

Census construction data, along with data from the National Association of Home Builders, show that the median size of a new single-family house fell to 2,252 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2019, dropping by about 60 square feet year-over-year.

While median size dropped, the average size of a home is still on the rise. The average size of a new home increased to 2,511 square feet, showing that there is still an appetite for spacious new construction. For additional context, average square footage has increased year-over-year since the market bottomed out in 2009, rising by about six percent. 

An analysis of the data explains that homebuilders are responding to the demand created by low interest rates and the need for entry-level housing on the for-sale market. Home size tends to shrink before and during a recession and bounce back after the market recovers.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/new-single-family-home-size-is-shrinking/16510