WASHINGTON–Mortgages may be getting larger, but the median lot size of a new single-family, detached home has gotten smaller, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The NAHB said that using the average lot size with such homes sold in 2015 dropped under 8,600 square feet for the first time since the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) started tracking the series.
An acre is 43,560 square feet, so the current median lot size is just under one-fifth of an acre.
The data, however, also shows while lots are getting smaller on average, regional differences in lot sizes are apparent. According to the NAHB, looking at single-family (attached and detached) speculatively built (or spec) homes started in 2015, the median lot size in New England exceeds half an acre. That is 2.6 times larger than the national median lot.
The NAHB noted that New England is known for strict local zoning regulations that often require very low densities.
The East South Central region of the U.S. finished a distant second with the median lot occupying less than a third of an acre. The Pacific region, where densities are high and developed land is scarce has the smallest lots, with half of the lots being under 0.15 acres. The Mountain and West South Central Divisions also report typical lots smaller than a national median, 0.17 and 0.16 acres, respectively.
The NAHB noted its analysis was limited to single-family speculatively built homes. Custom homes built on owner’s land with either the owner or a builder acting as the general contractor do not involve the work of a professional land developer subdividing a property. The SOC data show lot sizes for custom homes and shows that they tend to have larger lots. The median lot size for custom single-family homes started in 2015 was exactly one acre.