Is the New Trend for New Homes to Have Fewer Bedrooms?

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the trend for homes with 4 bedrooms or more has declined since 2015. However, if you look at their chart, the change has been relatively small during that period, at around 2%. If you go back a few more years, the number of new homes with 4 bedrooms has increased from 28% of the homes in 2008 to 34% of the homes in 2018. Three bedroom homes have dominated the new home market for a long time, but their percent of the overall new home market has decreased some over time, while the number of 4 bedroom homes being built is increasing.

How does that compare to local trends? When you exclude new home sales, the average number of bedrooms has been 4 for many years along the Wasatch Front. In contrast, the average number of bedrooms for new homes has been 3, but we are seeing a gradual increase in the number of new homes with 4 bedrooms. Most homes in our market have basements, often they are unfinished in new homes, so adding more bedrooms later is common. We tend to have larger homes with more bedrooms compared to the nation as a whole because we tend to have more children. This will likely continue, but local trends have been gradually moving closer to national trends year over year.

- Jeff Jorgensen

Photo by Mike Marquez on Unsplash