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% |