Supersize It

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%