In its Survey of Construction (SOC), the U.S. Census Bureau publishes data on the number of bathrooms in new homes started. In the last several years, the share of new single-family homes with three or more full bathrooms has increased, which may reflect the move by builders to focus on higher-end, larger homes in the post-recession period. However, recent data indicate that this trend started to reverse: the median square feet of new homes declined in the second quarter of 2016. Growth in the number of smaller homes, such as townhomes, may emerge going forward in response to first-time buyers returning to the market.
Of new single-family homes started in 2015, 4 percent have one or less full bathrooms, 59 percent have two full bathrooms, 27 percent have three full bathrooms, and 10 percent have four or more full bathrooms.
Figure 1 displays the shares of new single-family homes started by the number of full bathrooms from 2005 to 2015. Over this time frame, the shares of new homes with two bathrooms and with one or less bathrooms edged downward. Meanwhile, the shares of new homes with three bathrooms and with four or more bathrooms increased.
Differences in the share of new single-family homes started in 2015 with three or more full bathrooms can be observed by Census Division (Figure 2). Figure 2 shows that the South Atlantic division has the largest share of new homes with three or more full bathrooms (42 percent). Other divisions with large shares include the Mountain (39 percent), the Pacific (38 percent), and the West South Central divisions (38 percent). Regions with smaller shares of new homes with 3 or more bathrooms include the New England (30 percent), the West North Central (30 percent), and the East North Central divisions (24 percent).
View this original post on NAHB’s blog, Eye On Housing.
