Are Builders Abandoning The ‘Starter Home’?

New homes going up in the U.S. are getting bigger and pricier, squeezing younger would-be buyers out.

The average new home built last year was 2,720 square feet, that’s up from 2,660 square feet in 2014. Nearly half of new homes had four or more bedrooms. One in four new homes come with enough room for three cars in their garages.

But perhaps the most striking difference is in price. The price of the average new home for sale is $350,000, up from $251,000 in 2009 – back when the housing market was flush with cash.

It’s a calculated move on the half of builders looking for better buyers: the older and more affluent families looking for more room. This means that new inventory isn’t popping up in areas that would benefit buyers looking for starter homes, with smaller square footage and smaller price tags.

Builders blame land prices, construction costs and a lack of mortgages for these younger buyers.

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