Largest Starter Homes in the U.S.? Austin, Texas

Millennial homebuyers have a piece of good news: Austin starter homes are the largest in the nation, at 1,428 square feet, according to Trulia and reported in its article, Room to Roam: Where Starter Home Buyers Can Live Large.

Notably, the South in general fared much better than other areas of the country, with five of the top ten markets for the biggest starter homes in Texas. In fact, the Lone Star State fared very high in its reporting of the largest square footage for all three categories: starter homes, trade-up homes, and premium homes.

In the starter home category, after Austin was Atlanta at 1,344 square feet, Newark at 1,330 square feet, Montgomery County, PA at 1,326 square feet, and Houston at 1,300 square feet.

For trade-up homes, Houston topped the list at 1,997 square feet. Colorado Springs was second at 1908 square feet. Dallas and Austin were third and fourth, at 1,900 and 1,893 square feet, respectively, with Raleigh fifth at 1880 square feet.

For premium homes, Colorado Springs was first with 3,056 square feet, Dallas was second with 2,945 square feet, Fairfield County, CT was third with 2,904 square feet, Houston was fourth with 2,869 square feet, and Montgomery County, PA was fifth with 2,857 square feet.

Three of the five markets that offered the biggest percentage increase in space when upgrading from a starter home to a trade-up home also were in Texas. San Antonio was second with an increase of 579 square feet, or 51.7%. Houston had a 51.3% increase in space for trade-up homes, or 677 square feet. And, Dallas had an increase of 49.7%, or 631 square feet.

To estimate the median sizes for starter homes, trade-up homes, and premium homes, Trulia looked at the entire housing stock in a given area and divided it into thirds, allocating the status by price point.