Dive Brief:

• The average new American home is barely larger than it was last year and considerably smaller than those built at the beginning of the decade, RealtyTrac reported late last week.

• At 1,803 square feet, the average newly built, single-family home in 2015 is just four square feet larger than last year’s typical home. After reaching a post-recession peak of 1,863 square feet in 2012, home sizes whittled down to 1,799 by 2014, the study of homes 1,000 to 5,000 square feet showed.

• In 2000, the average size of a new, single-family home was 1,772 square feet. By 2007, homes had expanded to 1,800 square feet and then, like everything else, shrunk during the recession, down to 1,791 square feet by 2009, before starting to climb back up in 2010.

Dive Insight:

The fact that homes are shrinking is no surprise; the National Association of Home Builders predicted in 2011 that homes would start getting smaller.

At that time, builders pointed to the desire of homeowners to keep energy costs low and mortgage sizes manageable.

And while several homebuilders have started building smaller, single-family dwellings in anticipation of an influx of young, first-time homebuyers to the market, the boom has not materialized yet, leading others to pour their resources into larger, more luxurious homes for move-up buyers who are ready to purchase.