Forget the white picket fence: Is buying a townhouse the new American dream?

When Alisa Newman was shopping for a location earlier this year, she harbored nary fantasies of a achromatic picket obstruction surrounding a single-family home. Instead, she opted for a townhouse.

“I decided connected a townhome because I americium azygous and getting older, and I’m attracted by nan imaginable of little upkeep than pinch a single-family home,” she says.

Newman, who moved to Delaware, adds that her erstwhile location successful Coral Gables, FL, was a attraction nightmare—particularly during hurricane season.

“The organization wherever I’m buying has an HOA that will return attraction of section attraction and snowfall removal,” she says.

But it wasn’t conscionable nan debased attraction that drew Newman’s attention; it was besides nan price. At $620,000 for 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, it was acold much affordable than single-family homes successful nan area.

And since it was new construction, she was capable to bid it to her specifications, requesting wood floors passim alternatively than carpeting, a luxury superior bath, an upgraded room and bath fixtures, and a information system. She moreover received $10,000 rate toward her closing costs.

Having little individual outdoor abstraction now besides doesn’t interest her because “it intends little to return attraction of.”

Her only interest is slight: sharing walls pinch strangers.

“I’d for illustration to cognize if the Rolling Stones or a family pinch 10 kids will beryllium correct adjacent door, but my supplier won’t show me,” she says. “So if Mick and Keith are adjacent door, I’ll conscionable person to befriend them.”

Townhouses: The caller American dream?

With the salary needed to spend a home more than doubling since nan COVID-19 pandemic, nan dream of owning a location has go harder for nan mean American.

Many experts opportunity nan deficiency of homes is nan main problem, truthful developers are building residences arsenic accelerated arsenic they can. Single-family location construction jumped 16% successful September.

But what if nan solution was not much houses, but smaller, much compact houses instead?

Enter nan townhouse.

A townhouse—defined arsenic a location wherever astatine slightest 2 floors stock a wall pinch different home—might deficiency nan abstraction and privateness of a single-family residence, but it has a batch much going for those who request a much affordable introduction constituent to homeownership.

“At existent liking rates and assuming a 10% down payment, that’s a savings of astir $185 per month,” says Realtor.com® economist Joel Berner.

And those savings are moreover much important depending connected wherever you shop.

“There are 36 ZIP codes present wherever townhomes are plentiful and connection a 30%-plus discount against single-family homes,” says Berner. “They thin to beryllium successful metropolis centers of Atlantic markets wherever single-family homes are expensive. In these townhome basking spots, townhomes aliases statement homes connection nan champion of some worlds: proximity to desirable parts of nan metropolis and nan chance to ain a portion of spot astatine a much affordable price.”

In fact, 7 ZIP codes beryllium wherever townhouses are trading for complete a 50% discount versus single-family homes. The biggest discount is successful Raleigh, NC, wherever a townhome costs a median of $463,335. Meanwhile, a stand-alone single-family location will tally you astir $2,499,250—making townhomes present 81.46% cheaper.

Why suburbia loves townhomes

While galore municipality areas specified arsenic Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City person ever been townhome fans, suburbia has caught connected astatine this point.

Land is nary longer plentiful and cheap, not moreover measurement retired successful agrarian areas. Developers person to make their finance count, and builders tin fresh a batch much townhomes connected a azygous crippled of onshore than single-family homes. Multifamily buildings are much eco-friendly, pinch overmuch little required clearing of wood aliases farmland.

Year-to-date starts of 2- to 4-bedroom-unit projects (typically townhomes) are up 31.5% crossed nan state twelvemonth complete year, while single-family starts are up only 10.1%.

“The early of townhome income looks beardown astatine slightest successful position of measurement of units coming onto nan market,” says Berner.

The benefits of a townhouse

Some caller homebuyers are already connected to nan caller American dream.

Jacob Austin, who bought a KB Home townhome successful a St. Augustine, FL, improvement called Orchard Park, says that he was happy to opportunity goodbye to his single-family dwelling.

“I appreciated really low-maintenance a townhome is,” he says. “The townhome I unrecorded successful is very freely and akin to a single-family location inside, but much affordable than single-family resale homes successful nan area.”

Elizabeth Boese, a existent property supplier successful Boulder, CO, says galore of her clients chose a townhouse complete a single-family erstwhile they saw nan “amount of house” they could get for little money.

While concerns astir having your neighbors truthful adjacent stay a sticking point, building improvements to artifact sound tin thief alleviate these imaginable issues.

“Some of nan concerns I perceive are that you stock a wall pinch your neighbors, and buyers are worried astir nan noise,” says KB Home income counselor Marianna Herman. “But we usage awesome products and sound barriers that thief destruct overmuch of nan sound that you tin hear, truthful our homebuyers are pleased pinch really quiet nan location tin be.”

Neighbors successful adjacent proximity tin moreover beryllium portion of nan entreaty of nan townhome, says architect James Schaefer, who specializes successful designing them.

“Townhomes harvester what is charismatic astir single-family homes—garage, yard, aggregate bedrooms—with organization and proximity to neighbors,” he says.

Yet sound aside, Boese says that townhouse owners mightiness tally into different issues that a single-family location wouldn’t present.

“If nan tile is shared aliases connected to your neighbor, past life tin beryllium difficult if nan tile needs to beryllium replaced but nan neighbour will not stock nan costs aliases is unwilling to switch their portion,” she warns.

She tells of 1 customer who was trying to waste his unit, but photos of nan tile intelligibly showed that it was replaced only up to nan statement of nan neighbor’s.

“You tin spot nan difference,” she says. “It makes it harder to sell, knowing personification has specified a difficult neighbor.”

She advises looking for a townhome wherever nan tile and exterior walls are individuated, truthful that each proprietor tin support their individual sections.

Also, astir townhome developments travel pinch homeowners relation fees. Be judge to publication your HOA statement thoroughly, and cognize what your fees do and don’t cover.

Will nan townhome overtake nan single-family home?

An op-ed successful the Wall Street Journal posits that group should hide astir nan “antiquated” thought of a ample single-family location successful nan suburbs and alternatively see nan townhouse.

But will townhouses genuinely return complete successful people’s minds and hearts?

Lawrence R. Samuel, writer of “Home Ownership successful America,” notes that successful nan 1960s, condos were lauded arsenic a measurement for everyone to bask homeownership, while successful nan precocious 1970s, it was nan mobile home. More recently, 1 tin look astatine nan fame of the tiny house.

None has ended nan norm of nan single-family house.

“I don’t foresee immoderate different shape of housing, including townhomes, usurping nan supremacy of nan single-family house,” he says. “It ideally aligns pinch nan halfway American values of independency and backstage property.”

He adds: “For amended aliases worse, nan image of nan suburban house, complete pinch a achromatic picket obstruction and a backyard of one’s own, is permanently etched successful our minds.”