NAHB News and Notes

Government Report Sheds Light on 30 Years of Home Building Trends

Today's newly built homes are substantially larger and packed with more amenities than their predecessors of 30 years ago, according to annual data on new-home characteristics released by the U.S. Census Department this month.

"Between 1975 and 2005, the portion of new homes built with central air conditioning has risen 43%, while the portion of homes built with fewer than two bathrooms has fallen from 41% to just 4%," noted Jerry Howard, chief executive officer of the NAHB. "Meanwhile, the share of newly built homes with four or more bedrooms has risen steadily from 21% 30 years ago to just shy of 40% last year."

The statistics, along with NAHB research on several additional trends, provide a snapshot of changing aspects of home design over the past 30 years, including the continued expansion of new-home size through 2005. The average floor area in a newly built home last year reached an all-time high of 2,434 square feet — up from an average 2,349 square feet in 2004 and just 1,645 square feet in 1975. The Northeast had the largest average new-home size for any region last year, at 2,556 square feet. New homes in the Midwest had the smallest square footage, with an average of 2,310 square feet.

The report also revealed important trends in the type of exterior wall material used for newly completed houses. In general, the use of brick and wood exteriors has declined as stucco and vinyl siding have become more popular through the years — with vinyl siding now the most-used wall exterior. Brick exteriors on newly built homes declined from 32% to 20% of the market between 1975 and 2005, while wood exteriors declined from 36% to 7%.

Meanwhile, use of stucco as exterior wall material went from 10% of new homes in 1975 to 22% in 2005 and use of vinyl siding, which was previously not broken out in the Census data, went from 23% of homes in 1992 to 34% in 2005. Vinyl siding is particularly popular in the Northeast, where 83% of newly built homes last year had the material.

Howard points out the declining use of brick that the data indicates isn't necessarily observable when driving through newly built communities. "Brick is still very popular as an exterior material in many areas," he said, "but primarily because of the high cost of labor, builders have increasingly limited its use to the front of the home. The Census data only reflects the exterior material that's on more than 50% of a home's surface area."

The data also show evidence of the increasing popularity of heat pumps versus conventional warm air furnaces, particularly in the South. Overall, warm air furnaces remain the most popular heating systems in the U.S. — accounting for 67% of the new-homes market in 2005, down from 72% of the market back in 1975. The decline in that market appears entirely due to construction practices in the South, where use of warm air furnaces fell from 82% of new homes to 47% over the past 30 years, and where heat pumps now command over half the market (53%).

An important trend in home design that's been highlighted by NAHB builder surveys over the years is increasing ceiling height. More than half of all newly built single-family homes in 2004 — 58% — had nine-foot or higher ceilings on the first floor. This is up from an estimated 15% of homes with such features 30 years ago.

Another place where home buyers are getting extra space is in their garages. Census data collected since 1991 indicates that the percentage of homes built with garages for three or more cars has doubled, from 10% in 1991 to 20% in 2005. Meanwhile, NAHB data reveal that garage-door sizes are expanding to accommodate the increasing size of vehicles like SUVs that owners are parking in those spaces. The typical door for a single-car garage bay used to measure about 7 by 9 feet, but the trend is now toward 8 by 10-foot garage doors.

One thing that has shrunk over the years is lot size, which Census data shows has dropped from a median of about 10,000 square feet in 1990 to 8,500 square feet today. But because of the rising cost of developed lots, says Howard, the share of home price that can be attributed to the lot on which that home is built hasn't changed — it's still about 25%. [ return to top ]