$\"Less$ \n

You started shopping with a specific mental image of your future home in your mind. Then the houses in your budget came in smaller than you pictured.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the reality for a lot of buyers right now. Affordability is tight.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t let that discourage you. Going smaller might actually be a smart play in today\u2019s market \u2013 and the upside can be bigger than you\u2019d think. Let\u2019s break down two places to look where smaller won\u2019t necessarily feel like a compromise.<\/p>\n

Homebuilders Are Focused on Smaller Options Lately<\/strong><\/h4>\n
For starters, smaller is kind of on trend right now. Newly built homes have been shrinking for years. According to the latest data<\/a> from the Census<\/em>, the median square footage of new single-family homes has been falling overall since 2014<\/strong> (see graph below)<\/em>:<\/p>\n
$\"a$ <\/p>\n
Why? Builders focus on the types of homes consumers want the most. After all, they want to build what will actually sell. And for the past decade, buyers seem to agree less is more.<\/em><\/p>\n
Especially right now, when affordability is a key concern, they\u2019re building homes with smaller square footage than a decade ago. And that\u2019s good because that may be more within budget for many buyers. It\u2019s part of why new home prices recently hit a 5-year low<\/a>.<\/p>\n
So, if you\u2019re not getting excited about any of the existing options at your price point, it may be time to check out what builders are doing in your area.<\/strong><\/p>\n
You may find brand-new options you really love with all the latest and greatest features. And if you\u2019ve got modern appliances and design, maybe slightly less square footage doesn\u2019t feel like that much of a compromise anymore, especially if the house is move-in ready.<\/p>\n
Condos Are Opening Up Another Path<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Just in case you don\u2019t have a ton of new builds in your area, another avenue worth exploring is condominiums or condos.<\/p>\n
For buyers crunching numbers to make the math work, condos can take real pressure off the budget. According<\/a> to the National Association of Realtors<\/em> (NAR), the median price for condos is less than the median for single-family homes in every region <\/strong>(see graph below)<\/em>:<\/p>\n
$\"a$ <\/p>\n
Part of that is because condos are typically smaller. And smaller square footage can come with a smaller price tag too. That\u2019s a selling point to affordability-strapped buyers right now \u2013 and it\u2019s one of the reasons we\u2019re seeing a bump in condo sales.<\/p>\n
The number of condos sold rose 2.7% from just a month ago. It\u2019s also up year over year, according to NAR<\/a>. Ali Wolf, Chief Economist for New Home Source<\/em>, explains why more buyers are going this route:<\/p>\n
\n
\u201cIn addition to favoring smaller floor plans, more consumers are showing a willingness to live in an attached home. This shift is not driven by a preference for shared walls, but by a pursuit of value.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The Community Does Some of the Heavy Lifting<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Here\u2019s why smaller may still work for you. Whether it\u2019s a condo complex or a neighborhood of detached single-family homes, the right community can give you back in amenities what you trade in square footage.<\/p>\n
Many developments are designed so the home is just one piece of where you actually spend your time. Master-planned communities often include walking trails, pools, fitness centers, co-working spaces, and outdoor gathering areas \u2013 the kind of features that pick up where your floor plan leaves off.<\/p>\n
No room for a dedicated office? The co-working space might be just a five-minute walk away. Want a place to work out? It\u2019s already built in with the shared gym. And features like that can make opting for a smaller footprint feel less like a compromise \u2013 and more like a big lifestyle upgrade.<\/p>\n
Bottom Line<\/h3>\n
Today\u2019s smaller single-family homes and condos have more going for them than the square footage suggests. They can give your budget some breathing room and put you in a community designed with lifestyle in mind.<\/p>\n
Curious about the options in your area? Connect with a local real estate agent to walk through what\u2019s available.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You started shopping with a specific mental image of your future home in your mind. Then the houses in your budget came in smaller than you pictured. That\u2019s the reality for a lot of buyers right now. Affordability is tight. But don\u2019t let that discourage you. Going smaller might actually be a smart play in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6439,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[29,27,20,18,28],"class_list":["post-6438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-insight","tag-idaho-real-estate","tag-north-idaho-homes","tag-rain-silverhawk","tag-real-estate","tag-sandpoint-idaho"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Header-Image-20221114-original.png?fit=750%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdz2Zu-1FQ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}