The media, and many people on social media, like to talk about home price appreciation – comparing the price of an “average” or “median priced” home in year X to today’s home prices.
These comparisons are misleading – in fact, completely wrong – because the typical home has changed a lot over the decades.
A home bought in the 1970s or 1980s is not the same as homes bought today. Old homes were smaller and usually had one bathroom – today 2 to 3 bathrooms are standard, and construction standards are higher – dual or tripled paned windows, much better insulation and so on. Garages went from one narrow garage to 2 or 3 car garages.
Specifically, home sizes have been growing ever bigger:
Average home size in sq ft by decade
- 1920: 1,048 sq ft
- 1930: 1,129
- 1940: 1,177
- 1950: 983
- 1960: 1,289
- 1970: 1,500
- 1980: 1,740
- 1990: 2,080
- 2000: 2,266
- 2010: 2,392
- 2014: 2,657
The typical home bought today (2020s) is almost twice the size of a home from 1970 to 1980s, a 2-3 car garage (versus 1 in the ’70s) has 2-3 bathrooms (versus 1 in the 1970s), better insulation and more.
