Is the Shrinking Middle Class Driving the Growth in Home Size?
Lloyd Alter weighs in on the debate over the shrinking, or growing, size of American homes, seeing the influence of affluent homebuyers as driving an increase in size.
Addressing themes discussed in recent news items on Planetizen, Alter takes note of the predictions for the long-term reductions in average American home size and recent trends in the reverse direction.
According to Alter, "what appears to be really happening in real estate is the same thing that is happened in the job market: the middle class has disappeared, and the only people buying are the rich."
On the hope for an eventual return to the housing size shrinkage prophesized by the NAHB, Alter is dubious about its chances without a recovery of, "a strong middle class with stable, well-paying jobs."
Published on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 in
Topics
- Recycling Is Cancelled
- Report: No City or State in the U.S. Has Enough Housing for Low-Income Residents
- Review: The Hudson Yards Mega-Development, Open to the Public Today
- Home Builders Aren't Building the Smaller Homes the Market Wants
- Proposed Mega-Development Would Expand Chicago's Skyline
- It Takes a Fatality to Remove On-Street Parking
- 3D Printing Affordable Housing at Scale
- Study: Density Can Impede Growth
- 'Urban Luxury' Housing Skyrockets in Texas and Beyond
- Seattle Gives Final Approval to 27 Upzones
- APTA Calls for $232 Billion in 'Critical' Public Transit Investment
- Connecting the Issues of Flooding and Affordable Housing in Texas
- Lyft to Help Expand Bike Share Citywide in Chicago
- Chinese Cities Build Big Despite Shedding Residents
- 2018 Survey: Housing Production is Up Around the U.S.
- Transit Ridership Up in San Diego
- Dallas DOT Brings New Mobility Vision to the Region
- More States Look to Expand Tenant Protections
- Santa Monica Pedestrian Mall Wants People to Hang Out
- The Case for Fourplexes in Portland
