by Calculated Risk on 6/04/2013 02:48:00 PM
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Lawler: Single Family Homes Built/Sold in 2012: “Back to Bigger,” But on Very Low Volumes
Census released its estimates for the characteristics of single-family homes completed and sold in 2012.
CR Note: from the release:
Of the 483,000 single-family homes completed in 2012:From Lawler: Here is a chart showing the % of SF homes completed with square feet of floor area of 3,000 or more.
• 432,000 had air-conditioning.
• 63,000 had two or fewer bedrooms and 198,000 had four bedrooms or more.
• 34,000 had one and one-half bathrooms or less, whereas 145,000 homes had three or more bathrooms.
• 142,000 had a full or partial basement, while 78,000 had a crawl space, and 263,000 had a slab or other type of foundation.
• 266,000 had two or more stories.
• 278,000 had a warm-air furnace and 183,000 had a heat pump as the primary heating system.
• 285,000 heating systems were powered by gas and 189,000 were powered by electricity.
The average single-family house completed was 2,505 square feet.
![Lawler New Homes](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhcf4XWUJ6POb9QMd79gfYKwAmTvtHo0nS3GTE_M3AjomooBjHASzgImQ4OzMnF7ohCB0iAECseWt5vefIgkPnatAqryKvEpcSPLHa3PcWmCgvAMamPsNgxw1aW0vQKC9bR8D_w/s320/LawlerSF1.jpg)
Click on graph for larger image.
There has been a long-term upward trend in the average and median square footage of SF homes built in the US, though “size” has had a bit of a cyclical component as well – generally rising more rapidly during strong markets, and more slowly during “soft” markets. The “dip” in 2009-10 may also have reflected a temporary increase in building targeted at first-time home buyers related to the home buyer tax credits, while the recent rebound reflects the post-tax-credit weakness in first-time home buyer demand.
Of course, the recent increase in the share of “large” SF homes built has been on very low overall volumes.
![Lawler New Homes](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYPlls2B-ApeQXjEEt2DDxZPXJFFgnhsvssADY4GLx6mTm1k61jNnY38AHE5LX5KpO3PAKLraKyt8walTUNLX1eF6iChLYN-5fl8MH7sCeFYnDIT84aUCAErirwkDTq4h92GVug/s320/LawlerSF2.jpg)
Census also released estimates of the characteristics of new SF homes sold (total SF completions include not just homes built for sale, but also owner- and contractor-built homes, as well as a small number of SF homes built for rent. These characteristics reflect SF homes sold based on contract signing/earnest money exchange, and not completions, and the square footage data only go back to 1999.
![Lawler New Homes](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lCNf6BZY_2_2wOtrgiOMGE8HyUdU3kErN8ff2PNH57xIcYsMKKF9PArW7d6ndImsIefFsRwMMRsoLUmm8fBGtILB7ga-yQegf0-Oa8oauEZWKjuTfYniwa09R_MlCbYoPF9oYw/s320/LawlerSF3.jpg)
Here is a chart showing the % of new SF homes sold that had four or more bedrooms, with data going back to 1978.
![Lawler New Homes](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnX-8saStE7JpgtkTzPE6C2X3CWl2gdatE9v8kYb7hwiiiKwqelUuDa-A1Ny3ul8AzdFT_UuqaPxJduow4xctEJgLvRRM7BvUeT5LeIfJhkElReBvD-ZhjHvRYGJxBYCQbOW1MUQ/s320/LawlerSF4.jpg)
And here is a chart showing the number of new SF homes sold with four or more bedrooms.
![Lawler New Homes](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQImmkmrMpIY02VwDmGY-n0EelScj42Y6VBY_aRederlTr0UUfb5pvIylcZpGr4fsijFZ6S9el7oHVsnNyIyaob6eNSJwdEBf25e2qqulb1h8mwOiW-g3ZFXfq29PdiTHs6vxZbA/s320/LawlerSF5.jpg)