Why It’s Getting Harder to Find a Small Home in the U.S.

The proportion of big homes being built in America has increased: Mega-houses of 4,000 square feet and more accounted for more than 9% of new homes last year, compared with 6.6% in 2005, and 3,000-to-4,000-square-foot houses made up 21.7% of new homes, up from 15.6%. Meanwhile, dwellings of 1,400 square feet or less made up just 4% of the new-home total, down from 9%, according to CNN. Yet many young people are closed out of the home market because of high prices, difficulties getting mortgages, or student-loan debt.