Philly is in the middle of a building boom, and developers are making sure the apartments are tinier than ever. A recent report reveals that the average apartment size has shrunk by 25 percent in recent years.
That’s the greatest decrease of apartment sizes out of all 20 major U.S. metropolitan markets.
According to real estate analytics firm RCLCO, units built between 2010-2016 are a quarter smaller than those constructed from 2000-2009. RLCO’s data shows that today, the average size of a Philly apartment is 828 square feet. In the early 2000s, it was 1,097.
There are a few factors at play here. This report looked at the entire Philadelphia metro region, so apartments in Camden and Wilmington, Delaware were also included.
RentCafe, for example, found that the average square footage of solely Philly-based apartments is actually 772 square feet. They crunched their own numbers and found that these were the top 10 neighborhoods with the tiniest apartments and the average square footage.
- Ogontz (591)
- Cobbs Creek (608)
- Haddington (613)
- Logan (634)
- Tioga (661)
- Germantown (671)
- Lawncrest (671)
- Cedar Park (672)
- University City (689)
- Rhawnhurst (691)
You may be scratching your head, as many of these neighborhoods are in West and North Philly, which tend to offer more space than Center City rentals. But RentCafe only included the size of apartments in buildings with 50 or more units.
Still, it’s clear that the trend of small-space living is hitting cities all over the country. What may be more disconcerting, however, is that although units are tinier, renters are having to fork over increasingly high rents to live in them. High-end construction makes up nearly 70 percent of Philly’s rental market.