American homeowners are increasingly wasting more space than ever before.

 The average size of new homes increased during the iconic "McMansion" era, which began in the 1980s, as builders embraced larger designs.

Dec. 19, 2024, 2:56 AM GMT+6 

While the number of homes for sale is limited these days, a surprising amount of housing space remains unoccupied—an all-time high. According to a recent Realtor.com report, the number of extra bedrooms in U.S. homes has reached the highest level ever recorded since the U.S. Census began tracking this metric in 1970.

As of the latest available Census data from last year, there were 31.9 million extra bedrooms, up from 31.3 million in 2022. In comparison, only 7 million extra bedrooms were reported in 1980. This significant increase comes as the average number of people per household has steadily declined from 3.1 in 1970 to a historic low of 2.5 in 2023.

Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com, attributes the rise in spare bedrooms to two factors: homes are growing larger, and household sizes are shrinking. "Spare rooms are more common in more affordable areas, where it's easier to buy homes with extra bedrooms," he explained. The "McMansion" era of the 1980s led to an increase in the size of new homes, but this trend has slowed in recent years due to rising costs, along with increasing demand for energy-efficient and environmentally-conscious homes.

Over the past 50 years, the average number of bedrooms per home has increased from 2.5 in 1970 to 2.8 in 2023, though this figure has remained steady for the last decade.

Regionally, the trend of extra space is most prominent in the Mountain West and Southern U.S. regions, where larger homes are common due to the availability of land. In contrast, urban areas tend to have fewer extra rooms.

McLaughlin further noted, "If homebuyers value extra space, then we may not have overbuilt during the McMansion era. However, if people are simply settling for larger homes because that's what's available, then perhaps we did overbuild in recent decades."

The markets with the highest percentage of bedrooms considered "extra" include:

1. Ogden, Utah (12.2%)
2. Colorado Springs, Colo. (12.1%)
3. Salt Lake City, Utah (12%)
4. Memphis, Tenn. (11.8%)
5. Atlanta, Ga. (11.6%)
6. Cleveland, Ohio (11.3%)
7. Wichita, Kan. (11.3%)
8. Columbia, S.C. (10.8%)
9. Charleston, S.C. (10.7%)
10. Jackson, Miss. (10.7%)

On the other hand, the markets with the lowest share of extra bedrooms are:

1. Miami, Fla. (5.9%)
2. Sarasota, Fla. (6.4%)
3. New York, N.Y. (6.5%)
4. Los Angeles, Calif. (6.6%)
5. New Haven, Conn. (6.7%)
6. Worcester, Mass. (6.9%)
7. Stockton, Calif. (6.9%)
8. Bakersfield, Calif. (7%)
9. Honolulu, Hawaii (7%)
10. Providence, R.I. (7.1%)