The average single-family house built in 2020 was 2,480 square feet, down 29 square feet from 2019, and 207 square feet smaller than new houses built in 2015 — when new homes peaked in size.
Although average new houses were smaller last year, there were clear regional differences. Two of the nine U.S. divisions built bigger houses in 2020 than the prior year. Houses in the Mid-Atlantic, which comprises New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, were 188 square feet larger. The other division is the East South-Central (Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama), where new houses built in 2020 were 147 square feet larger.
Historically, the biggest new houses by far are built in the Mid-Atlantic states. Last year, on average they measured 2,934 square feet — 454 square feet bigger than the U.S. average (Figure 1).
At the other end of the spectrum, the smallest new houses are built in the West North Central. They average 2,278 square feet, 202 square feet smaller than the national norm.
Read More: Single-Family Homes Shrinking – NKBA
