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The average home size in the 1970s was 1,500 square feet. It’s around 2,700 square feet today. And the percentage with air-conditioning, two car garages, pools,

The average home size in the 1970s was 1,500 square feet. It’s around 2,700 square feet today. And the percentage with air-conditioning, two car garages, pools, dish washers, etc have increased significantly as well.

novok 6y ago
Go price out a 1500 sqft house built in the 1930s-1970s today and you'll see that it's still significantly more expensive than it's inflation adjusted price back then, especially in the larger cities where there are jobs. And that 1970s house today is less valuable than it was back in the 1970s too, but that is harder to evaluate in aggregate. Jobs also used to be more distributed, so the need to move was less back then. AC & Dishwashers are also only a few thousand dollars of value, mostly on the AC side. The rest are relatively luxury items.
- valuearb 6y ago
  If 1,500 SF homes cost more now than they did in the 70s, how is the average person affording 2,700 SF homes today? And low end AC & Dishwashers can be had for only a few thousand dollars NOW. Back in the 70s the cheapest ones were still expensive enough to require an upper middle class income.
  - skohan 6y ago
    > how is the average person affording 2,700 SF homes today? They're not. Home ownership is currently at about the same level it was in the 90's, declining from a boom in the 2000's driven by sub-prime lending, but if you look at generational differences, everyone younger than baby boomers is basically owning homes at much lower rates. https://journal.firsttuesday.us/bad-news-for-tomorrows-homeownership-rate/50222/ https://journal.firsttuesday.us/bad-news-for-tomorrows-homeo...
    - valuearb 6y ago
      2014 was six years ago after a sharp recession. Current home ownership is near all time highs. https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf So why is the average home size nearly double the size in the 70s?

novok 6y ago

Go price out a 1500 sqft house built in the 1930s-1970s today and you'll see that it's still significantly more expensive than it's inflation adjusted price back then, especially in the larger cities where there are jobs. And that 1970s house today is less valuable than it was back in the 1970s too, but that is harder to evaluate in aggregate. Jobs also used to be more distributed, so the need to move was less back then. AC & Dishwashers are also only a few thousand dollars of value, mostly on the AC side. The rest are relatively luxury items.

valuearb 6y ago
If 1,500 SF homes cost more now than they did in the 70s, how is the average person affording 2,700 SF homes today? And low end AC & Dishwashers can be had for only a few thousand dollars NOW. Back in the 70s the cheapest ones were still expensive enough to require an upper middle class income.
- skohan 6y ago
  > how is the average person affording 2,700 SF homes today? They're not. Home ownership is currently at about the same level it was in the 90's, declining from a boom in the 2000's driven by sub-prime lending, but if you look at generational differences, everyone younger than baby boomers is basically owning homes at much lower rates. https://journal.firsttuesday.us/bad-news-for-tomorrows-homeownership-rate/50222/ https://journal.firsttuesday.us/bad-news-for-tomorrows-homeo...
  - valuearb 6y ago
    2014 was six years ago after a sharp recession. Current home ownership is near all time highs. https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf So why is the average home size nearly double the size in the 70s?