Age of Home Buyer Designates Size of House

As the U.S. housing market continues to make gains, it seems that the median desired home size today is approximately 2,226 square feet, says new research that came out of the National Association of Home Buyer’s (NAHB). More than 3,600 home buyers were approached regarding a variety of new home characteristics. The survey, “What Home Buyers Really Want” was conduced in 2012, and its data summarizes some significant differences in home design size preferences.

Research from the 2012 National Association of Realtors^® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows that today’s first-time buyers have an income of $61,800, and are a median age of 31 years old.  And it would appear that age plays a big role in a home buyer’s preferences.  What’s more, the amount of space requirements drop steadily as the buyer’s age increases. For instance, the desired home size is 2,494 square feet for those younger than 35, but people 65 plus, want a home with at least 2,065 square feet.The real reason has more to do with a buyers’ ability to access credit. Harshly stringent mortgage lending requirements since the economic downturn has created a situation where those people who are still able to obtain credit and put down a larger down payment – typically wealthier buyers – can afford larger homes.  On the other hand, the less financially-solid buyer tends to get shut out.

The typical age of home buyers remained at 39 years of age  from the year 2007 until 2010, while the age of first-time home buyers fluctuated with household affordability. In 2007, first-time home buyers’ ages fell to 31 and from 2008 to 2010 the typical age remained at 30.

Today’s  size preferences are also affected by race and ethnicity, and data shows that   minority buyers desire more space than white, non-Hispanic home buyers. Specifically white, non-Hispanic buyers appear to want about 2,197 square feet.  African-American buyers prefer 2,664 square feet. On the other hand, Asian home buyers desire 2,280 square feet, while Hispanic buyers want 2,347 square feet.  In materials from the U.S. Census Bureau, median home sizes peaked in 2006, and then began to fall in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Then this trend reversed and median home sizes have risen for the past three years. Specifically, estimates indicate that in 2012 the median size of all single-family homes was 2,309 square feet, and the average was 2,521 square feet.

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(Sources: The survey was conducted by NAHB’s Economics and Housing Policy Group in 2012;  2012 National Association of Realtors^® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers).