Weekly Special | September 21, 2026

Small New Homes Nearly Disappeared

Leon County builders once sold plenty of small new homes. From 1990 through 2010, 1,153 of the 8,914 new homes sold from January through August were under 1,250 square feet, or 12.9%. Since 2012, the figure is 2.1%, just 71 of 3,394.

Single years jump around, so the 10-year average tells the story more clearly. From 1999 through 2011 it stayed between 10.5% and 13.7%, and it has fallen to 1.8% in 2026. In 2012, not one of the 112 new homes sold in those months was under 1,250 square feet.

This year the numbers are even starker. From January through August 2026, 3 of the 164 new homes sold were under 1,250 square feet. A buyer who wants a small new home has almost nothing to choose from anywhere in Leon County.

Builders are selling larger homes instead. Of those 164 new homes, 62 had 1,250 to 1,749 square feet, 38 had 1,750 to 2,249, 48 had 2,250 to 2,749, and 13 were larger still.

For a buyer who wants less house, the small homes are in the resale market. This year, 484 resales under 1,500 square feet sold in Leon County, compared with 34 new homes that size. Those resales vary in age, updates, and location, and choosing well among them takes local knowledge.

For owners of smaller homes, the same numbers shape the price. Buyers shopping that size range compare your home with other resales, with very few new homes in the mix. The comparison that matters is how your home stacks up against the resales that sold near it.

Fewer small new homes means less new construction competing with a smaller resale. The right price for that home starts with recent resale sales of similar size, not with a builder’s price list. Pricing a smaller home from those sales is where a Joe Manausa Team member helps.

The full report looks at what these shifts mean for Leon County home prices and values, for both resales and new construction.

Read it before your next move, whether that is a purchase or a sale.

This issue went with a longer report on our blog: read the full blog post. The original one-page Weekly Special PDF is still available.