We have met one enemy of housing affordability ... it is us

Homes have become unaffordable partly because prices outpaced incomes, but also because the typical product has changed. Modern buyers purchase larger houses with more square footage, more bathrooms, bigger garages, higher finish levels, better systems, and more lifestyle amenities than earlier generations expected. Median home size rose from about 1,660 square feet in 1971 to about 2,420 square feet by 2025, an increase near 46%. Over the same period, the home-price-to-income ratio stayed relatively cyclical, around 4.9x in the early 1970s and about 4.6x in 2025. Older homes were simpler, smaller, and faced fewer code and energy requirements, while newer homes are marketed with expectations that shift “starter” status upward.

"The uncomfortable truth is that America's housing crisis is not only a price problem. It is also a size, features and expectations problem. The modern American buyer does not purchase the same house that their parents or grandparents did. They are buying more square footage, more bathrooms, bigger garages, higher finish levels, better systems and a far richer set of lifestyle amenities than previous generations ever expected. That matters because when the product changes, the price changes as well."

"In 1971, the median American home measured roughly 1,660 square feet. By 2025, that figure had grown to about 2,420 square feet, an increase of nearly 46%. Over the same long arc, the home-price-to-income ratio has been far more cyclical than the public conversation suggests, hovering around 4.9x in the early 1970s and about 4.6x in 2025."

"A 1970s home was simpler. It was smaller, had fewer bathrooms, lower ceilings, less storage, smaller garages, simpler kitchens and far fewer code and energy requirements than a new home faces today. Modern buyers, by contrast, often expect open-concept layouts, oversized kitchens, stone countertops, smart-home technology, multiple living areas, dedicated offices, walk-in closets, luxury primary suites and resort-style neighborhood amenities as a matter of course."

"In other words, what used to be a move-up home is now marketed as a starter home. One of the most important facts in this conversation is that America's homes have gotten much larger while household sizes have generally"

Read at www.housingwire.com