Affordability challenges impact housing trends
Housing affordability has been declining in recent years, with deterioration in price-to-income ratio being a key factor. Home prices have risen 53% since 2019, while median household income has risen only 24%. This has notably decreased the share of first-time home buyers in the market, which dropped to 21% in 2025 from 44% in 1981. Over that same time frame, the median age for first-time buyers reached a record high of 40 in 2025 from 29 in 1981.
Median home size leveled off at 2,155 square feet in 2025, essentially unchanged from 2,150 in 2024. Although size is not expected to change significantly in 2026, builders do expect to incorporate more transition or flex spaces, such as drop zones and multiple purpose rooms, and electrical vehicle (EV) charging stations.
“You can’t have housing prices rise that significantly for a sustained period of time and not experience housing affordability issues,” said Rose Quint, NAHB assistant vice president of survey research. “Clearly this will have implications on the size of homes we build and the types of amenities we include.”
