Even if there aren’t many houses for sale right now, there is still a lot of vacant properties. Actually, the highest in history.
According to a new research from Realtor.com, the number of additional bedrooms—defined as a bedroom that is greater than the number of people living in the property, including one for an office—has increased to its highest level since the U.S. Census started keeping track of this statistic in 1970.
According to the most recent Census data available, the number of additional bedrooms increased from 31.3 million in 2022 to 31.9 million last year. There were just 7 million additional bedrooms in 1980.
The fourfold increase coincides with a decrease in the average number of people living in a home, which fell from 3.1 in 1970 to a record low of 2.5 in 2023.
According to Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com, there are two primary reasons why we are witnessing an increase in guest rooms: larger homes and smaller households. Furthermore, we discover that spare rooms are more common in less expensive neighborhoods where purchasing a property with additional bedrooms is more feasible.
During the renowned McMansion era, which started in the 1980s when builders went big, the average size of a new home increased. However, they ceased expanding some ten years ago; this is largely due to mounting expenses as well as consumer demands for environmental and energy efficiency.
Although there has been no change in the last ten years, the average number of bedrooms per home has climbed during the past fifty years, from 2.5 rooms in 1970 to 2.8 rooms in 2023.
In terms of regional patterns, excess space is most prevalent in the Mountain West and the South because all real estate is local. According to the survey, this is merely because there is more land there and larger floor designs are used when building homes. The situation is exactly the opposite in urban residences.
We didn’t overbuild during the McMansion era if people value having more space. However, McLaughlin noted, “perhaps we did overbuild a bit over the past few decades if buyers are just tolerating these big homes because that’s what’s available.”
The 10 markets with the highest share of total bedrooms that could be considered excess are:
- Ogden, Utah (12.2%)
- Colorado Springs, Colo. (12.1%)
- Salt Lake City, Utah (12%)
- Memphis, Tenn. (11.8%)
- Atlanta (11.6%)
- Cleveland (11.3%)
- Wichita, Kan. (11.3%)
- Columbia, S.C. (10.8%)
- Charleston, S.C. (10.7%)
- Jackson, Miss. (10.7%)
The 10 markets with the lowest share of total bedrooms that could be considered excess are:
- Miami (5.9%)
- Sarasota, Fla. (6.4%)
- New York (6.5%)
- Los Angeles (6.6%)
- New Haven, Conn. (6.7%)
- Worcester, Mass. (6.9%)
- Stockton, Calif. (6.9%)
- Bakersfield, Calif. (7%)
- Honolulu area (7%)
- Providence, R.I. (7.1%)
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