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I've seen a trend in my current city where every development that comes before city council or the zoning board is told to bump up there SQFT minimum or they get the boot. At this point it seems like anything under 1800 SQFT is a no go and even at that it's normally limited to small percent of what can be built. Honestly about 50% of the developers or builders want to build starter/empty nester homes (1400,1600,1800), but wined up either giving in to the city or adjusting projects. As far as money goes a builder isn't gonna make a hefty profit from building a 3200 SQFt for 380,000 when they can build a 2300 SQFT for 340,000 (actual prices from my market). The city on the other hand will wind up making more in taxes from the 3200, so why not go for as big as possible.
Regarding property taxes: it makes absolutely no difference here in California whether a house is smaller or larger. It's all based on the original sales price of the house. Larger houses aren't always more expensive than smaller ones. Location is far more important than square footage.
When those smaller homes were built there weren't many condos. Now in many cases people that don't want lots of space buy a condo. That leaves little demand for small houses.
We prefer a smaller home. Ours was built in 2004 and is 1380 sf. We converted the garage into a den to give us an additional 200-ish square feet. Now it's perfect for our family of two adults and two teens. Our neighborhood is in a nice area of the city and it runs the gamut; there are homes that are the same size as ours or a bit smaller, as well as larger homes that are closer to 3,000 square feet. The oldest were built around 1990 and the newest are being built right now. So there's really something for everyone. I think my husband and I will keep this house after the kids move out. I can move my office into one of the bedrooms and we'll also have a dedicated guest room. It won't be too big for just the two of us.
Those wanting a small home that is 1,000 square feet or smaller would likely be limited to the older, less desirable part of the city, as far as I'm aware. Or they could have a custom home built, of course. But all of the new houses I see going up seem to be about 1,500 square feet at the smallest and many are much larger.
Here they still build plenty in the 1100-1500 range with quite a lot at 1300. You can find a 2016 built 1300 sq ft townhome in a good area for under $210k today. If you are looking to retire in the trendy areas in a tiny house then yeah you are SOL. Bigger homes are still selling and they sell very well.
My wife and I wouldn't even look under 2500 sq ft with a 12k sq ft lot, the house we purchased is a 4 bed 3 bath 2900 sq ft with almost 700 sq ft of that in the guest house/casita. If it doesn't have space for a good sized pool then no way would I ever live there as I use our pool almost daily from April through September/October. Millennials are going to be the largest buyers of new homes soon, if they aren't already, so builders are going to focus on their needs which are going to be space and energy efficiency.
I'm in a paired home - so one shared wall with my neighbors. But it's new construction and the party wall is so well constructed that I truly never hear them. I didn't even know the husband had gotten a drum set until I happened to see him outside and he mentioned it when we chatted. Mine is about 1800 sq ft plus an unfinished basement, which was actually one of the larger options, others are about 1400 sq ft. Perhaps something like that would be an option if you are looking for new/newer construction and this is something they have in your area?
This is mostly a gripe...I am considering selling my house and buying another but am amazed at how large most houses are. Seems like new house developers are still building huge houses when it is known that many seniors want to downsize and much of the younger market actually prefer and can better afford smaller streamlined homes. It seems short-sighted to me to continue the paradigm of the 80s on up for building 2500 sf+ houses. And it is very frustrating not to be able to find something smaller that is not in a bad neighborhood or in bad shape. I know there must be others like myself looking for a well-designed, efficient smaller home on a private lot - say in the 1600 sf range. And one has to wonder what will become of all these huge houses as time goes by.
Seniors that really do want to downsize also want to downsize out of a lot of exterior maintenance. That means townhomes and condos, of which there are plenty.
And don't be fooled by the younger market. They don't want "smaller streamlined homes." They want as much home as they can afford. If that means smaller to live in an area they really like, so be it.
As others have mentioned, the cost of running the sewer, water, inspections, etc, is going to be the same no matter what. Might as well build as much as will sell.
Here is a listing the next county over from where I am. It's odd because it shows two homes and the kitchen pictured looks like an apartment or half a duplex kitchen and the floorplan kitchen is different but it's less than 1200 sq ft for under $150K but it's not near any major highways or mid size cities.
That's a manufactured home and they're showing you the different ways it can be built. My own house had almost that exact same floor plan. The difference was in the closet and the bathroom in the master bedroom. My bathroom ran the other way against the outer wall and I had a much smaller closet, leaving space behind it for a separate (small) laundry room off the kitchen. My kitchen counters were also turned so the sink faced the living room and that left two whole kitchen walls with nothing against them. So even though my kitchen was as small as the one in the plans, it felt huge.
My house was a little smaller than that one. I think it was only about 950 to 1000 sq ft and it was plenty big enough for just me. I'd prefer a smaller house myself.
I bought my house in 2003 and it only cost $22,000. That's still not a bad price for that Florida house, though, but you have to remember is that price they're talking about is for the house and probably doesn't include land or land prep.
That's a manufactured home and they're showing you the different ways it can be built. My own house had almost that exact same floor plan. The difference was in the closet and the bathroom in the master bedroom. My bathroom ran the other way against the outer wall and I had a much smaller closet, leaving space behind it for a separate (small) laundry room off the kitchen. My kitchen counters were also turned so the sink faced the living room and that left two whole kitchen walls with nothing against them. So even though my kitchen was as small as the one in the plans, it felt huge.
My house was a little smaller than that one. I think it was only about 950 to 1000 sq ft and it was plenty big enough for just me. I'd prefer a smaller house myself.
I bought my house in 2003 and it only cost $22,000. That's still not a bad price for that Florida house, though, but you have to remember is that price they're talking about is for the house and probably doesn't include land or land prep.
No that is not a manufactured house which is a mobile home. Did you see the picture. Have you ever seen a mobile home on a slab? No they are always raised and have skirting of some kind. And yes it does include the land and prep. I guess you didn't click on the link because from the roofline you can see it's not a manufactured house.
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