For many Americans, homeownership may be attainable only if they give up a dining room.
Not having a dining room misses the point. This isn’t the 1950’s anymore where couples get married in their 20’s and have 3 or 4 kids. First-time home buyers now probably have a sibling, so don’t imagine there will ever be a bunch of children running around and not even many adults. These buyers may have spent their childhoods in a family room and ate in the kitchen, so don’t see the use of a formal dining room and living room.
Since 2018, the average unit size for new housing starts has decreased 10% nationally to 2,420 square feet, according to Livabl by Zonda, a listing platform for new construction homes. Construction starts for new single-family homes declined in 2022. But starts for homes with fewer than three bedrooms increased 9.5% over the same period, according to a Zillow report.
A house with 2400 square feet isn’t tiny. Plenty of room for a dining room if you’ve only got two bedrooms.
Home sizes are shrinking the most in some of the hotter markets of previous years. The Seattle area, where the size of newly built homes is 18% smaller than it was five years ago, tops the list. New homes in Charlotte, N.C., and San Antonio shrank by 14%, Livabl by Zonda said.
Those nerdlings in Seattle with the money to buy a house don’t need much. They want a well-insulated and soundproof house with a deck on the back to cook out and smoke pot. Inside, they need a plush room with a fat-ass TV near an open floor plan kitchen. Two decent sized bedrooms with big closets with a bathroom between them. They don’t need room to store albums or DVDs. It doesn’t take much space to paint role playing miniatures or to post on social media.
More space is more problems.
At the same time, they are increasing the size of multiuse rooms like kitchens and great rooms. Shared spaces like bunk rooms and jack-and-jill bathrooms, which are located between and shared by two bedrooms, are on the rise. In some cases, the kitchen island has become the only eating area in the home.
I don’t know what a bunk room is, and a kitchen island is big enough to set down the food that was just delivered.
The builder is slashing some bedrooms and bathrooms and trading some indoor living space for outdoor space. Lots in the neighborhood are smaller too, but the builder is working with limited acreage by landscaping to create privacy.
Young adults don’t want anyone watching them when they sit on the deck smoking pot. Other than that, they don’t care if the neighbor is four feet away.
Home buyers began moving in earlier this year, and demand has been strong from both entry-level buyers and empty-nesters.
That makes sense. Extra space, indoors or out, isn’t useful to either group. The empty-nesters are passed the point where they want the space for big group activities or hobbies that require more room. The entry-level buyers never considered those activities or hobbies in the first place. Neither group has the energy to do any extra upkeep or maintenance.