Page 14 - Mar18_BuilderBrief

80 Years

and counting

More Storage,

Please

Despite eight decades and a multi-generation (58%) and 67% of them said they would expect to pay
divide, prospective home buyers in 1938 expressed between $5,000 and $10,000 if purchasing a home.
preferences for many of the same features and At a time when most mortgages had terms of five
amenities favored by today’s home buyers. years or less, the people surveyed were already
Published by Simon and Schuster, Inc., The 1938 Book looking to new mortgage products to facilitate their
of Small Houses includes the results of an extensive purchase. Forty percent said they expected to pay
consumer poll distributed to 250,000 public utility for their new home over a period of 10 to 15 years.
customers in New York state. Another 32% were looking to finance their new home
With more than 11,000 responses, the survey provided over 15 to 20 years.
a clear vision of local attitudes and expectations. And much like today’s home buyers, the majority —
The authors, the editorial staff of The Architectural 61% — preferred a suburban location. Another 34%
Forum magazine, considered the findings of national wanted to be further out, and only 4.5% wanted a
significance. close-in location.
At the time, the nation was emerging from the depths
of the Great Depression and the Federal Housing
Administration was a fledgling agency spurring
rapid evolution in home financing, particularly long-
term mortgages. The book was clearly intended
to encourage demand for new homes as it also
included more than 130 plans for moderately priced
small houses built in a variety of markets throughout
the nation.
Most of the homes appeared to be smaller than 1,000
square feet. In comparison, the average new home in
1973 (earliest data available from the Census Bureau)
was almost 1,660 square feet; by 2016, the Census
Bureau reported that the average size of new single-
family homes was 2,640 square feet.
The majority of the customers surveyed were renters

14 MARCH 2018 | GREATER SAN ANTONIO BUILDERS ASSOCIATION