The median size of a new single-family house was 2,467 square feet last year, the biggest on record, according to Census Bureau data out this week.
With all that floor space, homes are 61% larger than the median from 40 years earlier and 11% larger than a decade earlier.
“McMansion” may not be a popular term post-housing bust. But American homes have not only been getting larger, they’re also including more bathrooms and amenities such as air conditioning. Some 93% of new houses had air conditioning in 2015 compared with 46% in 1975. About 96% of new homes last year had at least two bathrooms versus 60% four decades earlier.
That may go some way toward explaining rising prices. The median sales price of a new home was $296,400 last year, according to Census, a new high. Even when adjusted for inflation, new-home prices hit a record last year.
More recent data suggest the housing market is gaining strength amid steady job creation and low mortgage rates, though rising prices and short supplies are constraints. U.S. new-home sales in April posted their strongest month in more than eight years. And sales of existing homes, which account for the bulk of the market, rose for the second straight month in April, the National Association of Realtors said last month.
A separate Commerce Department report out last week showed housing starts rebounded in April, leaving builders on pace to break ground on 778,000 single-family homes this year. Still, the number of starts remain well below historical norms.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Sparshott
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/06/02/u-s-houses-are-still-getting-bigger/
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