Among some other trends, we do know that American homeowners are now upsizing to a “forever home” that can accommodate family members for future senior living, thanks to all the baby boomers who are coming of senior age these days. According to a recent study called the “2013 Characteristics of New Housing” from the U.S. Census Bureau, the average size of a new home was hitting 2,598 square feet, topping the 2007 record of 2,500 square feet. Other trends include the fact that most people want a spacious great room, with the kitchen and dining areas all in one, and plenty of room for entertaining with outdoor room-like patio areas. Outdoor features continue to be very popular in new homes:63 % had porches, 53% had patios, while 22% had decks.
The Survey of Construction (SOC), which was partially funded analysis by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), also showed the average sales price of new single-family homes sold in 2013 was $324,500, compared with the average price of $292,200 in 2012. Of the 569,000 single-family homes completed, the average house plan was 2,598 square feet. That would be similar to this 2,525 square foot four-bedroom, three-bath ranch style home plan from The Plan Collection (www.theplancollection.com)
Other popular features included the fact that there were two garage bays in almost 64% (362,000) of homes while about 20% (119,000) had three or more garage bays.
Fireplaces continue to be an attractive choice in new home construction. There were about 256,000 homes with one fireplace at 45% while 6%, 34,000, had two or more.
55%, or 312,000 homes were built with slab foundations; 29%, or 166,000, had a full or partial basement; and 91,000, or 16 % had a crawlspace.
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