Home Sizes: Demand vs. Supply

The share of new single-family homes built in the 1,600-3,000 square-foot range track closely with the share of buyers who want homes of that size, according to recent surveys from NAHB and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The surveys show that 21% of buyers want homes with 1,600 to 1,999 square feet, and 22% of new single-family homes started in 2023 have that much floor space.

In the next tier up, 38% of buyers want homes with 2,000 to 2,999 square feet, and 40% of new single-family homes fall within that size range.

Results on the square footage buyers want in their next home were published in the 2024 edition of What Home Buyers Really Want, based on a representative sample of 3,008 recent and prospective home buyers in 2023. The size of homes started comes from NAHB tabulation of the recently released 2023 data file from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction.

Outside of the 1,600-3,000 square-foot range, the match between what buyers want and what builders provide is not as close. While 26% of buyers want homes under 1,600 square feet, only 16% of single-family homes started in 2023 were that small. And while 22% of new homes have at least 3,000 square feet, only 14% of buyers are looking for homes that large.

NAHB Senior Economist Paul Emrath provides more analysis in this Eye on Housing blog post.