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Four Bedrooms the New Norm

Source: Professional Builder House Design

Fewer kids today will know the struggles of sharing a room with a sibling. Or, from another perspective, more child-free adults will have sufficient space for their home spas and man caves. The reason: larger homes.

According to data from the U.S. Census Survey of Construction and analysis from the NAHB, 36 percent of U.S. single-family homes started in 2015 have four bedrooms, and 11 increases from previous rates of 29 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in 2009.

It's possible for houses to have four or five bedrooms because, on average, homes have been getting larger. According to the Census Bureau, the median square footage of homes completed in 2015 was 2,540, up from 2,159 square feet in 2009. NAHB speculates that the increase in floor space and number of bedrooms is the result of builders opting for higher-end, larger homes during the post-recession period. Three-bedroom homes are still the most common, but their prevalence declined from 54 percent in 2009 to 43 percent last year. Homes with two or fewer bedrooms made up 10 percent of starts last year.