New Seattle apartments are some of the country's smallest
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New apartments in and around Seattle have much less square footage than the national average, with new units built here ranking among the smallest in the country.
Why it matters: Apartment sizes are shrinking nationally, despite a trend that saw rental units get bigger during the early part of the work-from-home era.
By the numbers: The average size of newer Seattle apartments is 659 square feet, about 26% smaller than the 2022 national average of 887 square feet, per a new report from listing service RentCafe.
- Among 100 metro areas analyzed, the Seattle region had the smallest-sized new units, according to RentCafe's analysis.
The big picture: Nationwide, newly built apartments shed 30 square feet on average compared to 2021, per the report.
- That sharp decrease was fueled in part by more studios and one-bedroom apartments entering the market, researchers found, analyzing the 100 metro areas with the most high-density units.
Flashback: In 2020 and 2021, demand for more space resulted in larger unit configurations, RentCafe analyst Adina Dragos tells Axios.
- "Fast forward to 2022, the demand for more apartments prompted developers to accommodate more units in their projects," Dragos says.
- Case in point: Fifty-seven percent of apartments completed last year were small units across the U.S.
What we're watching: Apartments under construction.
- As the market keeps fluctuating post-pandemic, their size could signal whether the trend of smaller rentals will stick.