Builders are shrinking new homes and cutting finishes to keep prices flat, but that's misleading. Over three to four years, average home size has dropped noticeably, so stable prices actually mean you're buying less house.
One of the things that's really important to understand is that builders are addressing this problem by making smaller, cheaper houses with inferior finishes and features to try and make new homes more affordable. In fact, the size of new homes has decreased pretty substantially. I can't remember the exact number. It depends what survey you look at, too. But in just the last three or four years. So keep in mind, if you look at a survey, folks, and it says, well, new home prices are flat, or they've only gone up a little, or they're going down, it's because it's not the same new home. The new home is now a lesser home.
