Americans May Want More Space, but Their Apartments Are Getting Smaller
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The rent isn’t just too damn high—the apartment that you’re renting may well be getting too damn small, too.
In 2022, the average size of new apartments was 887 square feet, a drop of 54 square feet over the past 10 years as developers increasingly focused on putting up more studios and one-bedroom apartments. That’s according to a new report from RentCafe, which shows how the surging demand for rentals continues to play out across the nation.
Despite people clamoring for more square footage during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 had the biggest year-over-year decline in new apartment sizes—down 30 square feet, or 3.2%, from 2021.
“This goes to show just how different the 2022 rental market was compared to previous years,” says RentCafe writer Adina Dragos. It also demonstrates how the pandemic-era need for “more space” has given way to a need for “more apartments,” she adds.
As usual, there are some big regional differences in this national report. The biggest apartments can be found in Florida and the Deep South, where land is often cheaper than in the pricier West and Northeast.
Tallahassee, FL, had the largest newly constructed apartments with an average size of 1,182 square feet. It was followed by Gainesville, FL, Mobile, AL, and Knoxville, TN.
When all apartments, both new and older units are compared, Marietta, GA, had the biggest apartments, clocking in at an average 1,060 square feet. It was followed by Tallahassee, Columbia, SC, and Gainesville.
The area with the smallest apartments, both new and older units, might be a surprise, however. Seattle and San Francisco tied for the smallest overall apartment sizes, at 689 square feet, followed by Minneapolis and then Chicago.
Seattle is also tops on the list of smallest new-build apartments, at just 659 square feet, followed by Queens, NY, Portland, OR, and Brooklyn, NY.
Seattle’s incredible shrinking apartments are no surprise to Ashley Hayes, CEO of the Seattle Rental Group and a managing broker at Pointe3 Real Estate.
The past several years have seen an influx of developers accustomed to thinking small, Hayes says. Even as pricing has gone up, “if you want something new and are able to live in that amount of square footage, there is plenty of demand.”
What these new developments offer that helps offset the smaller living space is “robust amenities,” Hayes adds. These include rooftop pools and decks, large fitness centers, art studios, communal rooms, and even office space.
RentCafe data shows that the vast majority of newly built Seattle apartments are studios and one-bedrooms, even as cities in the Northeast saw a bigger share of larger units become available, Dragos notes.
Manhattan, which might be the stereotypical home of tiny rentals, has actually seen a decade-long shift to bigger space. In 2022, the average size in the Big Apple was 33 square feet more spacious than in Seattle.
Hayes says the newer configurations work well for many Seattle renters, reflecting the new reality that while many people aren’t commuting to a job site every day, nor are they spending their entire lives in their living rooms, as many did throughout 2020.
“During the pandemic, we did see some people shifting around and upsizing because they wanted more space,” Hayes says. “That was just a moment in time, but work from home is here to stay.”
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