New home contractors are building homes with fewer bedrooms than previously in order to cater to the demand for smaller, more affordable properties.

According to the US Census Bureau’s latest survey of construction firms, the number of bedrooms in the average newly constructed home in the country is falling.

The amount of new single-family homes that were started with four bedrooms or more dropped from 44.8% in 2017 to 43.5% in 2018, continuing a trend that has been occurring since 2015, the National Association of Home Builders said in its Eye on Housing blog.

The trend towards fewer bedrooms is in line with an overall trend of smaller single-family home sizes, the NAHB said.

“These developments are linked to changes in preferences among home buyers,” the NAHB explained. “With more millennials becoming prepared to buy their first home, the starter home share will rise, which means smaller homes and slightly fewer bedrooms.”

In 2018, the number of single-family homes that had been started with three bedrooms was the highest of all categories at 45%. Homes with four bedrooms followed at 34%, homes with two bedrooms comprised 11% of new builds, and homes with five bedrooms or more was at 9%.

New Homes Are Smaller and Have Fewer Bedrooms by Mike Wheatley | Realty Biz News