Some real estate experts say that Maricopa averages smallest home lot sizes in the country, well Arizona in general really. For some folks, a larger home lot just means more area to maintain, but given the choice, most homeowners prefer a bigger backyard and a little more land between themselves and their neighbors.

“Many people like the idea of living in a single-family home and having a yard to call your own along with some space between themselves and their neighbors,” real estate website Trulia observes.

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But lot sizes in the Valley and statewide are shrinking, and a new study reveals that Arizona is among the states with the smallest lots per square foot.

When it comes to newly built single-family homes, the average lot size is dwindling almost as fast as the kids did in the classic 1989 movie “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” Today’s sequel could be “Honey, I Shrunk the Lots.”

Angi, an online home services company, estimated the average lot size in each state and major metro based on more than 390,000 single-family home listings from Zillow.

When it comes to actual lot size, the Grand Canyon State has the third-smallest lot average area in the nation. The study found that the typical lot size in Arizona is a mere 8,726 square feet.

That’s more than five Olympic-size swimming pools smaller than Vermont, which has the nation’s largest lots, at 78,409 square feet on average. Lots in Arizona are also almost an acre smaller than second-ranked New Hampshire, where the typical lot size is 49,223 square feet.

Not Just An Arizona Thing

The Median Lot Size is dwindling across the country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median size of a lot for new construction in 2018 was 8,982 square feet, or about one-fifth of an acre. In 2020 it stood at 8,306 square feet. By comparison, the median size of a home lot in 2009 was 10,994 square feet, or one-fourth of an acre. That’s a square footage drop of 18.3 percent in average size.

Why are larger lots going away?  Is less land being carved out for new homes in America? It boils down to price and preference.

First, let’s look at price.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports the average cost of a lot for a single-family home is $85,139.

For builders, this means a hefty investment in land. If you apply the average lot cost to the 154,000 lots that Pulte, one of the largest home-builders in the U.S., controlled as of June 30, 2019, you’re looking at more than $13 billion. While this a ballpark approximation, it gives you an idea of how much money home-builders spend on land.

Land costs keep rising in large part because of a shortage of affordable, buildable lots, NAHB says.

Land also plays a sizeable role in the home buying experience. The lot makes up roughly one-fourth of the sale price of a single-family home, meaning a smaller lot can dramatically reduce how much someone pays for a new place to live.

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Home Prices Aren’t Shrinking

In Arizona, the median home price for a single-family home has risen dramatically in recent years. Since 2015, the median sale price in Arizona has risen from $211,000 to an incredible $350,000. 

The average housing prices across Arizona have gone up by 31.9% in the past year as compared to 12.5% from October 2019 through October 2020.

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Some experts say the unprecedented price hike is caused by a shortage of houses caused by the pandemic, the recent freezing over of Texas, historically low federal interest rates, lumber shortages, Arizona’s political instability, an influx of new residents from California & other states, and its bustling economy. All these factors have contributed to the double-digit yearly price increase for Arizona homes.

Another pertinent root cause is the single-family zoning in the area. Many years back, Arizona may have thrived as a suburban hub but it’s no longer able to accommodate the growing emigrants from across the states as well as the nation.

So, anyway, our yards are getting smaller and costing a LOT more. How much did YOU pay for your home? Comment below…