Homes Are Shrinking in the U.S.

In a reversal of a three-decade trend, U.S. homebuilders are cutting the size of the American home as margins are being squeezed by a shortage of land and labor. The average floor area year to date of a new house is 2,420 square feet (225 square meters), down from a record high of 2,520 set in 2015, according to a Capital Economics Ltd. analysis of federal data. Before the decline, the typical size had grown by a third since 1990.