Amenities are up while size is down, according to a report put out by RCLCO.  Looking across 20 U.S. metro areas, the average apartment size shrank by 70 square feet, or 7%, compared to those built between 2000 and 2009.

The decrease isn't isolated in one region of the country, either, as all regions experienced some level of shrinkage, from 5% in the South to 9% in the East.  There was a large stratification of size reduction across property types, with high cost markets declining 9%, but low cost markets only reducing 3%.

When looking deeper into the numbers, however, although on a unit by unit basis, apartments have declined in size, the bulk of the decline is actually attributed to unit mix.  In other words, new developments have focused less on two and three bedroom apartments, and more on one bedroom and studio apartments.  In fact, in low cost markets, the actual size of apartments when comparing based upon specific unit types actually increased.

We recommend reading the entire report here:  http://www.rclco.com/advisory-apt-unit-size