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Compared to other countries, America is known for bigger cars, portions and take-out coffee cup sizes. For most of recent history, Americans have also wanted bigger homes — but now that’s changing.
For most of the last half-century, new single-family homes kept growing. In 1973, the median size of completed single-family homes was 1,525 square feet, according to US Census data. By 2015, that number had ballooned to 2,467 square feet.
But as the cost of buying a home has exploded and McMansions have fallen out of favor, homebuilders have reversed course, building smaller homes with an eye to first-time buyers. In 2023, the median single-family home built was 2,233 square feet, down 9% from the 2015 peak, with many formal dining rooms and “bonus” rooms disappearing.
Carias and her partner ultimately settled on a roughly 920-square-foot home. To maximize space, they decided to use the basement as their primary bedroom.
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https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/05/business/home-sizes-shrinking/index.html
For most of recent history, Americans have also wanted bigger homes — but now that’s changing.
For most of recent history, there were no other options. We codified a lot of this into regulations.
This just means you’ll pay the same price for a smaller house.
Source: am australian
“why sell 1 regular house on an acre when you can sell 10 tiny houses on the same acre?”
real estate investor
If they did that, they just might alleviate the massive supply shortage we ran into. That would actually be great.
They are doing that. It’s really common to see a single family home with a decent but not big lot become 8 townhouses with no lot in big cities. Each townhouse costs roughly what the SFH cost the developers to buy.
Its more housing, but not at a pace that is fixing the issue, and you can argue the home buyers are getting way less out of it than they used to.
If they did that, they just might alleviate the massive supply shortage we ran into. That would actually be great.
Here’s a rare example from San Antonio TX. These are small 600 sq ft homes, each with their won driveway, backyard, front yard with no shared walls with your neighbor. Priced at $135k.
If I were renting a one or two bedroom apartment, I’d much rather buy one of these instead.
It takes less resources and money to keep a smaller house. Smaller repair bills, smaller utility bills and smaller amounts of maintenance. Smaller, more sustainable housing should require people to work less to afford to live.
Or it means, people get in way more debt than they can afford to buy a small low quality house, that costs more than a comparable apartment and doesn’t offer any of the benefits of a proper house.
We have those developments here in Germany and it’s awful. It looks like shit and I’m 80% sure that a significant part of the current owners could only afford their houses due to the low interest rates of the last decade. If they have to inevitably refinance, someone loses their job or a large unexpected expense happens, they’re absolutely fucked.
Welcome to German suburbs. Where the space between houses is the absolute minimum, the houses are only slightly larger than a reasonable apartment and every house looks exactly the same like in the 20 other new development areas around the city.
It’s the plastic version of the discount dream of wealth.
“Young people are getting fucked by previous generations, and will have to make do with less. It’s pretty great for rich people, though!”
Also, a smaller home makes adding an ADU to rent out easier on a standard lot. At least in high COL areas.
Ah, that works too.
Someone bought a home over my way and added a 2-story ADU in their backyard. They rent both units out. Probably pays for the mortgage completely.
I laugh when I pass that one. No idea how they got a 2-story permit for an ADU that is taller than it is wide in a 1-story neighborhood.
