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Supersize It

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Supersize It

The sizes of newly constructed homes have grown significantly over the last 30 years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of new homes with 2,400–2,999 square feet has grown 75 percent.


By Rhonda Jackson, Staff Writer September 30, 2006
This article first appeared in the PB October 2006 issue of Pro Builder.

 
Americans don't just want their food super-sized — their homes are getting bigger as well. The sizes of newly constructed homes have grown significantly over the last 30 years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of new homes with 2,400–2,999 square feet has grown 75 percent. Homes measuring more than 3,000 square feet doubled in amount from 1978 to 2005, from 143,000 homes to 286,000 homes.

Although the number of new homes with 2½ bathrooms or more has increased by 200 percent, the number of new homes with 1½ bathrooms has decreased by 81 percent.

The tables here chart the super sized house movement over the last three decades. The data tracks the number of bathrooms and bedrooms and square footage for new homes sold in 1978 and 2005.

% of Market
SQUARE FOOTAGE 1978 2005 1979 2005 Percent Increase/Change
Under 1200 42,000 32,000 5 2 -23.8%
1200–1599 177,000 204,000 20 16 21%
1600–1999 204,000 272,000 23 21 33.33%
2000–2399 167,000 234,000 19 18 40.1%
2400–2999 146,000 255,000 17 20 74.7%
3000+ 143,000 286,000 16 22 100%

% of Market
BATHROOMS 1978 2005 1979 2005 Percent Increase/Change
1½ bathrooms or less 181,000 34,000 23 3 -81%
2 bathrooms 419,000 458,000 51 36 9.3%
2½ bathrooms 153,000 464,000 19 36 203%
3 bathrooms or more 63,000 326,000 8 25 417%

% of Market
BEDROOMS 1978 2005 1979 2005 Percent Increase
2 bedrooms or less 74,000 130,000 9 10 75.6%
3 bedrooms 523,000 612,000 64 48 17%
4 bedrooms or more 219,000 514,000 27 42 134.7%

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