Shrinking Houses?

The near-collapse of the housing industry in the last year has had a big impact on the kinds of houses builders are putting up these days, according to SmartMoney. Most of the changes are good. Here are some interesting points:

• After a decade of the average new house increasing in size, it’s begun to go down, dropping from around 2600 square feet in 2007 to around 2400 square feet in 2008.
  
• Buyers want smaller houses. According to recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders, Americans would prefer homes around 2,350, which is still smaller than the average size home under construction.
  
• Almost 90 percent of builders surveyed said they plan to build both smaller and cheaper houses in the future. A wise move, since mortgage money will be a lot more difficult to come by in the years ahead.

Buying a house is one of the biggest and most important financial decisions you’ll ever make. You want to do it right the first time. We’ve got a lot of information to help you make a wise decision, according to God’s timeless financial principles. To find out more, click here.

Are you planning on buying a home in 2009? We'd love to hear about it and whether you're having trouble securing a mortgage with the current conditions. Please comment below!

Comments

[Jeff]

I don't see how selling a house when you are five or six years away from having it paid for is going to help you. If you buy a newer bigger house and you pay off your existing mortgage and take whats left to pay on the newer home; you have done nothing more than trade a home that in near being paid for. Then assuming a new loan for a longer term and most likely a bit less interest payment or at the least the same that you may already have, now you go from six years and owning your home to purchasing a fifteen possibly a thirty year mortgage just to have a bigger home and most likely a bigger payment; and your are in debt; when in six years you could borrow and make any repairs that needed to be done or add an addition to your house probably for a lot less. Any comments on this?