AURORA | Americans looking for new homes aren’t downsizing anymore.
For the first time since the recession, the average size of a newly constructed home topped 2,520 square feet last year, setting a new record at 2,598 square feet. According to the United States Census Bureau, which released the data in early June, the new record size of an average home is the highest since 2007.
Still, while the size of new homes has climbed passed pre-recession levels, experts say square footage is just one of many factors home buyers are looking for — and rarely is it at the top of the list.
“I think people are more interested in location and schools, as long as houses have minimum number of rooms that they are looking for,” said Linda Philpott, broker and owner at Westwind Realty in Aurora.
Philpott, who is also the chairwoman of the board of Aurora Association of Realtors, said the number of bedrooms is part of the reason new homes have more square footage than they once did. Families today want a room for each child and aren’t as willing as families once were to have children share a bedroom, she said. In some cases, families expect not only a bedroom for each child, but also a bathroom.
“It’s just the expectation of the American family,” she said.
According to the census data, which looked at both new homes sold in 2013 and new homes completed, only about 10 percent of the 569,000 homes completed last year had just two bedrooms. About 45 percent had four bedrooms or more.
Buyers are also less inclined to accept a house with a smaller garage, Philpott said, and are looking for homes with flexible open space inside.
Of the 429,000 new homes sold last year around the country, the vast majority — about 300,000 — had at least a two car garage, while 98,000 had garages for three cars or more, according to the Census data.
Still, the biggest factor for home buyers remains price, Phillpott said.
“It’s more price than size,” she said.
When it comes to new construction, Phillpott said homes start at about $300,000 and go up from there, even for smaller new construction.
According to the census data, the average new home sold for $324,500 last year, up from $292,200 in 2012.
In Aurora, several builders are still developing tracts of housing, particularly along the E-470 corridor on the east side of town.
Richmond American Homes, for example, has a handful of neighborhoods under construction in Aurora. Generally, homes around the national average size of about 2,600 square feet start around $350,000.
Nationwide, builders say that while the market has improved in recent years, they remain cautious.
In May, single and multifamily housing starts dipped about 6 percent, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
“The dip in single-family production shows builders continue to move carefully in adding inventory,” Kevin Kelly, chairman of the NAHB, said in a statement this week. “They are also facing supply chain issues, such as access to lots and labor.”
Still, single-family permits, which are often a sign of future building, were up about 4 percent around the country.
“The encouraging news is that single-family permits are up by almost 4 percent,” NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said in the statement. “The modest increase is evidence that builders expect continued release of pent-up demand and a gradual expansion of the housing market. We are still forecasting a 12 percent increase in total housing starts for the year.”