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[Global Times Comprehensive Report] Under the "oppression" of high housing prices, American home buyers have increasingly pursued cost-effectiveness in the past two years, and "small apartments" on the market have become a popular commodity.

According to the New York Post on the 8th, Iowa graphic designer Carias has been living frugally for more than a year to buy a new home. She and her partner were originally looking forward to their first home, but based on the budget and the current housing market, they had to compromise and eventually chose a "small apartment" of about 85 square meters, which is nearly a hundred years old. In order to save space in the living room, they also set up the master bedroom in the basement.

American homebuyers are increasingly favoring smaller homes. Source: New York Post

The report said that Carias' choice is far below the average level of American homes: Over the past half century, the most common single-family homes in the United States have become larger and larger, from an average of 140 square meters in 1973 to 230 square meters in 2015. This trend is also in line with Americans' preference for large houses. However, in recent years, the US housing market has undergone many changes. According to a study conducted by the National Association of Home Builders in April this year, the average expectation of homebuyers today is 192 square meters, which is not only lower than the average area of ​​new homes built in the previous year, but also far lower than the peak in 2015.

According to CNBC, a market survey in the first half of this year showed that buyers of "large apartments" between 185 and 230 square meters accounted for about 26% of the total, while buyers of apartments between 140 and 185 square meters accounted for 28%, and 16% of buyers chose "small apartments" below 140 square meters.

Major real estate developers in the United States have also made timely adjustments. CNBC reported that in the first quarter of this year, the median floor area of ​​newly built single-family homes was about 198 square meters, about 10 square meters less than the same period last year. According to CNN, in July this year, the US home builder Horton announced that the area of ​​newly developed units would be reduced by 2% overall compared with the previous year. Even the luxury home developer Toll Brothers has begun to focus on cost-effectiveness, claiming that entry-level "just-needed housing" will account for 45% of its newly developed homes. The company's CEO said: "There are 75 million millennials, and we can't wait until they are over 40 to buy improved homes."

The New York Post reported that the "falling out of favor" of luxury homes may be related to a "housing crisis" currently unfolding in the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at a low level for a long time, resulting in a complete sweep of listed properties on the market, an imbalance in market supply, and a sharp rise in housing prices. In the first half of this year, housing prices in major cities across the United States remained high, coupled with rising loan interest rates and tight housing supply. Even President Biden specifically mentioned this livelihood issue in his "State of the Union" speech this year, promising to build and renovate 2 million "affordable homes" and provide certain tax breaks for homebuyers.

Ms. Feng, a real estate agent at Keller Williams Realty in the United States, said in an interview with the Global Times that in recent years, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of houses on the US market has dropped sharply, housing prices have soared, and mortgage interest rates are high, which has scared off many buyers. At the same time, many sellers dare not sell their houses easily, resulting in a relatively bleak real estate transaction volume. For large cities with relatively strong demand, it is difficult for housing prices to fall. The fact that housing prices are still rising in this harsh environment can only mean that there are too few houses on the market today. (Liu Haoran Ren Yiran)