By Kris Hudson | The Wall Street Journal
The average size of a new home now exceeds the lofty levels reached during the housing boom, the latest indication that the new-home market is catering more to older, more affluent buyers and less to younger and first-time buyers.
During the finance and housing downturns, many home builders downscaled and built smaller and less expensive homes in response to an era of frugality. But that has changed, especially for upscale buyers who are purchasing their second- or third-generation home and account for a greater portion of deals. First-time buyers, meanwhile, have been sidelined by more-stringent lending standards and rising interest rates.
In the new-home market, “what’s left is people who have means,” said Brad Hunter, chief economist for housing-research firm Metrostudy, a division of Hanley Wood LLC. “They are buying homes that they can afford, which tend to be bigger.”
