Homes are getting bigger, not just in our Arizona golf communities but across the country. Despite the housing bubble and slow comebacks in many markets, the average home size has increased over the last 20+ years. CNN shows us visually how we’ve expanded from 1983 to just a few years ago in 2013.
“Source: Cromford Report”
What affects the average home size? Basically, what buyers can afford. Since the housing bubble burst and we went through a recession, fewer first-time home buyers can afford to actually buy homes. This is in part due to problems getting approved for a mortgage on top of debt with student loans. First-time home buyers are traditionally the largest group to purchase smaller homes. So the market for smaller homes under 1,400 square feet has declined to 4% of homes built in 2013 as compared to 9% in 2005, just before the height of the market.
On the flip side, those who had money in the stock market around 2009 could have doubled their money. Many of those people put that money into their homes. Large homes between 3,000 and 4,000 square feet accounted for 15.6% of new homes in 2005. In 2014, that jumped to 21.7%, homes over 4,000 square feet only accounted for 6.6% of homes built in 2005, but in 2013 they made up 9% of homes built.
The combination of these two elements (plus a few others) has helped the average home size to rise from the ashes after a hurting real estate market.
In 2015 the United States Census reported that the median size of a new single-family home was 2,520 square feet. Looking back even further at the progression of home sizes, we see that homes have really expanded since the 1970s and are now an average of over 1,000 square feet larger.
The home size and living spaces have increased even more when you consider that the average American household is actually getting smaller. That means that the per person square footage of living space has almost doubled over the last 41 years from 507 to 987 square feet.
Open floor plans, play rooms, dens and lofts have all contributed to the increase in square footage. AZ golf homes boast many of these features, so how do homes in our Arizona golf course communities compare to the national average? We’ll explore our local Phoenix market in part two of the average home size blog.
If you’re interested in increasing your square footage, contact AZ golf homes experts at The Matheson Team to browse golf homes for sale in Scottsdale AZ.
Don Matheson
Realtor | Founder
The Matheson Team – RE/MAX Fine Properties
21000 N. Pima Rd., #100, Scottsdale, AZ 85255
480-405-4228
don@azgolfhomes.com
[gravityform id=”1″ title=”false” description=”false”]