Home Size and Price Trends for Age-Restricted, Single-Family Housing

To see how the characteristics of new, age-restricted, single-family homes differ from other single-family homes started in 2022, the National Association of Home Builders analyzed data from the Survey of Construction conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), NAHB's Eye on Housing reports.

HUD and the Census Bureau began collecting and publishing data about age-restricted new homes in 2009, and since then, the number of these units has steadily increased from 17,000 starts (9,000 single-family and 8,000 multifamily) in 2009 to a total of 60,000 (pretty much evenly split between single-family and multifamily) in 2018, with dips and swells in those numbers in the ensuing years.

The median size of an age-restricted home was exactly the same as the median for other single-family homes in 2022: 2,300 square feet.  As usual, however, the median lot size for age-restricted homes, was somewhat smaller—just under one-sixth of an acre vs. one-fifth for homes started outside of age-restricted communities. There has been a general trend toward smaller lot sizes, as described in a September 8 post.  Another trend that has continued is the one toward higher house prices. The median price of a new, age-restricted single family home started in 2022 and built for sale was $472,000—$75,000 higher than it was a year earlier and considerably above the $461,000 median price of non-age-restricted homes started in 2022.

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