What the Average New Home Looks Like

Bigger, more expensive, in the South Atlantic region of the United States, and having a front porch are all dominant features of the average new home of today and tomorrow.

Using Census Bureau construction data, Porch.com forecasted patterns and trends in the nation's housing in 2016, 2026, and 2036. The average house size in 2016 was 2,600 square feet, and sold for roughly $198,000. By 2036, the average newly-built home will have an an added 400 square feet, selling for $100,000 more than in 2016. Over the course of the twenty years studied, new homes are expected to be built most in the Southeastern United States, rising from 29.2 percent in 2016 to 30.8 in 2036, which Porch.com attributes to the growing local workforce.

When it comes to curb appeal, you can expect to see some changes in entryways and exterior appearances in the not-so-distant future. While nearly 1 in 3 homes in 1999 had decks and half had porches extending from some region of the dwelling, we predicted less than 17 percent of new homebuilds in 2036 would continue to feature decks compared to the over 82 percent that will include porches instead. The American front porch debuted as far back as the early 1700s, and this iconic piece of American architecture could be coming back in a big way over the next 20 years.

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