California’s average lot size is larger than only one other state, housing report says
Californians live on the second-smallest single-family home lots in the country on average, according to a new report.
This follows a national decline in average lot size since 1978, the report said, with the latest number hitting a record low of 13,896 square feet in 2020.
That figure was down 4,864 square feet from 18,760 square feet per lot in 1978, a nearly 26% decrease, according to the report from Angi (formerly Angie’s List).
In California, that decline in lot size is more acute than most places in the United States.
At 8,327 square feet per lot, California’s average size is only larger than that of Nevada at 7,405 square feet per lot, the report said.
Those figures are a far cry from the 78,408 square feet per lot in Vermont, the highest state average in the country, the report said.
No individual California metro area’s square footage per lot cracked the top 50 averages in the United States.
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad was California’s highest-ranking metro area in the report, coming in 62nd overall with an average of 9,971 square feet per lot.
California has small lots but high prices
One of the most important side effects of California’s small lot size is the increased cost per square foot. California’s $85.60 per square foot was among the nation’s highest, exceeded only by Hawaii’s $110.86 per square foot.
In fact, the three cities with the highest cost per square foot were all located in California, the report said, with San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at $235.13 per square foot, San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley at $190.25 and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim at $156.46.
Even with those high costs, those cities were also among the 10 major metros with the least square footage per lot.
Four California cities — San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (6,098.4 square feet), Stockton (6,830.2 square feet), San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (6,871.6 square feet) and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (7,211.5 square feet) — all ranked in the bottom 10 major metros in terms of square footage per lot.
These swings in lot size are a result of several factors, the report said, largely due to high levels of demand and limited supply for houses and a shift toward city living.
“Since 1950, the share of the U.S. population living in cities has grown from 65% to roughly 83% today,” the report said. “As more Americans opt for big cities, they must also opt out of the American Dream staple of a large suburban home with a sweeping backyard and white picket fence.”
Meanwhile, zoning laws further restrict the expansion of new housing, further cutting off the supply of houses and forcing buyers to look for smaller homes.
“In San Jose, Miami, Seattle and Portland, for example — where the cost of land per square foot is among the highest in the country — urban growth boundaries prevent residential development outside the city borders and limit the supply of already in-demand housing,” the report said.
This story was originally published August 27, 2022 at 10:00 AM.
