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Home & Garden
By the Numbers: U.S. single-family homes continue to get smaller
Jun 15, 2010 3:59 PM

2,438 sq. ft.

US Single Family Home Gets Smaller
As single-family homes in the U.S. get smaller,
will residential energy use also decline?
Average amount of floor space in U.S. single-family homes built in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's annual Characteristics of New Housing report. It's the third consecutive year that the average single-family home has shrunk. The 2009 figure represents a decline of 3.3 percent from 2007, when the average single-family home had a record floor space of 2,521 square feet.

In 1973, the average U.S. single-family home had 1,660 square feet of floor space. David Crowe, chief economist with the National Association of Home Builders, believes the current rightsizing trend could be more lasting than the slight dip in home size that occurred in the 1980s.

"The decline of the early 1980s turned out to be temporary, but this time the decline is related to phenomena such as an increased share of first-time home buyers, a desire to keep energy costs down, smaller amounts of equity in existing homes to roll into the next home, tighter credit standards, and less focus on the investment component of buying a home," said Crowe in a news release. "Many of these tendencies are likely to persist and continue affecting the new home market for an extended period."

While smaller homes should lead to decreased residential energy use, today the U.S. lags in home efficiency, according to Greendex 2010: Consumer Choice and the Environment. The U.S. finished last in part because our homes are the largest of the 17 countries in Greendex, a study of environmental behavior conducted by the National Geographic Society and polling firm GlobeScan.

Along with the decrease in square footage, the Energy Star homes program could also have an impact on residential energy use. Homes built to Energy Star standards are at least 15 percent more energy efficient than those built to the 2004 International Residential Code and include additional features that can make them 20 to 30 percent more efficient than standard homes.

—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Visit our Energy Saving & Green Living guide for advice on boosting efficiency of your home.

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