Homes Get Bigger as U.S. Family Sizes Shrink

Average home size in 2005 up 63 square feet from 2004.
RISMedia
Just like burgers and big-screen TVs, Americans are super-sizing their homes.

The average house built in the United States last year was a record 2,412 square feet. That's up 63 square feet from 2004 - about the size of a walk-in closet.

"Why do home sizes rise when, during the same period, the average family size has declined?" Gopal Ahluwalia, head of research for the National Association of Home Builders, said. "There's really no answer."

The most likely reason is that homebuyers just want more room and can afford it, Ahluwalia said.

"Why do people buy a $75,000 Mercedes Benz when the same function can be performed by a $35,000 car?" he said.

Since the 1970s, the average single-family house built in America has grown by about 50 percent, according to a report released at the National Association of Home Builders' meeting this week in Orlando. During the same time, average family size has fallen from more than three people to about 2.5 residents per home.

Houses get bigger to contain all the features most buyers want. Almost 40 percent of new houses now have four or more bedrooms, compared with less than a quarter of such homes in 1973.

And 24 percent of houses built in 2005 had three or more bathrooms - double the rate in the early 1970s.

More than half of just-built houses have two or more floors. In 1973, almost 70 percent of new homes were single-level.

Nine-foot ceilings are now standard in most houses, but builders are getting rid of interior walls.

"There will be not many walls in the average home - it will be totally open," Ahluwalia predicts for the years ahead. "Kitchens will still stay the focal point, along with the bathrooms."

Some buyers may rationalize bigger and more opulent homes as a smart purchase.

"At least the house appreciates," Ahluwalia said. "In every decade it has turned out to be an excellent investment."

While buyers want bigger houses, they don't care so much about the size of the yard.
"Already the average lot size is about 9,000 square feet," he said. "It will decline to 7,000 or 8,000 square feet."

The home buyers themselves are also changing. Aging buyers account for a larger piece of the market along with a diversity of ethnic groups.

"There is a growing population of Asians, Hispanics and African Americans," Ahluwalia said. "In year 2000, 69 percent of the homes were bought by whites. That will substantially decline by 2015."