US apartments are shrinking to record sizes

A new report has found that American apartments have, on average, decreased to the smallest square footage in the past 10 years.

The new report from real estate site RentCafe analyzed apartment sizes nationwide and concluded that, although some regions and cities enjoy more space than others, the average trend is that apartments are getting smaller.

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The average size of a new apartment, one completed in 2016, was 934 square feet, the smallest size since 2006 and an 8 percent drop from the average size 10 years ago, according to RentCafe. Studios were the most reduced apartment type, seeing an 18 percent drop in average square footage in the last decade.

Conversely, apartment rents were continuing an upward trend with the national average monthly rent hitting $1,204 in May, RentCafe added. That figure is over $100 more than the average rent two years earlier in May, 2014.

Atlanta dominates when it comes to apartment size, as the city averages the largest apartments nationwide, RentCafe reported. Tucson, Arizona, at the other end of the spectrum, averages the smallest apartments.

In the Northeast, Boston’s renters enjoy larger apartments, where a studio averages 536 square feet, than their counterparts in Manhattan and Philadelphia, where studios average 475 and 441 square feet, respectively.

The trend toward smaller apartments has coincided with a related revitalization in downtown areas as residents forgo size but expect their homes to have easy access to 24/7 amenities, RentCafe added. Rooftop decks and urban farms, yoga studios, infinity pools and fitness centers are now a common sight in new rental communities as individual renters give up space.