Big homes are a big deal on the national housing market, according to a recent article in USA Today.
Evidently, a growing number of home buyers are looking for larger homes to accommodate their every need and desire.
In fact, of the 569,000 homes built last year in the US, about 33 percent (or 188,000 homes) had three or more bathrooms. That’s the largest share since tracking of new construction homes started in 1987.
Meanwhile, 44 percent of last year’s total new homes (or 251,000 homes) featured four or more bedrooms – which is the largest share it’s been since 1973.
These homes also tend to come with a lot more amenities:
- 53 percent of the homes built last year (301,000) had a patio
- 63 percent (361,000) had a porch
- And 22 percent (127,000) had a deck
It’s quite an interesting trend, especially given that at the same time, home ownership rates are remaining stable and the size of families and households are actually decreasing.
Let’s Take a Closer Look At This Recent U.S. Trend
Here are some recent real estate market statistics that will provide additional context on this trend:
- The average square footage of new single-family homes in the United States jumped almost 57 percent to 2,598 in 2013, compared with 1,660 in 1973.
- The Northeast boasts the second-highest average square footage, with that number jumping from 1,959 to 2,636 during that same time period. That’s an increase of 65 percent!
- Meanwhile, the number of people actually living in these homes has continued to decrease. In fact, the average number of people per household in the US decreased from 3.01 in 1973 to 2.54 in 2013.
- Specifically, families have decreased from 3.48 to 3.12 during that same time period.
- As one might expect, bigger homes have caused a rise in the average sales price of new construction homes. In fact, that figure skyrocketed from $62,500 in 1978 to $324,000 in 2013.
- The Northeast has the highest average sales price, which exploded from $63,000 in 1978 to $469,000 in 2013 – an increase of 646 percent.
- Even within the short time frame of 2012 to 2013, sales prices still showed huge increases. For instance, the average sales price of newly built single-family homes jumped 20 percent – from $292,000 in 2012 to $324,000 in 2013.
Yet the income levels of individuals are not keeping pace with these bigger (and more expensive) homes. For instance, the median income in the US increased by 9 percent from 1978 to 2012 – from $56,975 to $62,241.
And the home ownership rate continued to decrease – from 65.4 percent during the fourth quarter of 2012 to 65.2 percent during the fourth quarter of 2013.
Experts say that those people in the higher income levels are more active on the housing market. Maybe that’s why all-cash sales accounted for 42.7 percent of all U.S. residential property sales during the first quarter of 2014, up from 20 percent during the first quarter of 2011.
What Do You Make of This Recent Real Estate Trend?
We would love to hear your thoughts!
We certainly think that all of this market activity will have an overall positive impact on the U.S. real estate market.
For now, be sure to check back here soon for more valuable and up-to-date information that may impact you as a buyer or seller.
