CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Americans are constantly reshaping the housing market and the latest trend they’re looking for is less space. In Charlotte, the interest for smaller development can be seen across the city, shifting towards an increase in townhomes.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the construction size of a new median home has gone down by 4% within the past year.

Charlotte homeowner Alexandria Hauss said the expensive housing market and her current needs helped her decide that owning a townhome was the best option.

“It was about a year and a half when we started looking into options for homes and contacting a realtor, and we definitely wanted to stay in Charlotte, as opposed to moving to some of the suburbs around Charlotte,” said Hauss.

Not only was location a factor, but affordability was top of the list for Hauss too, leading her to look into smaller square footage.

“We really didn't need all of that space, but we definitely needed something bigger than an apartment and so this was sort of the next step we feel, in our home-owning journey,” said Hauss.

Hauss isn’t the only one on this journey, as the National Housing Association said townhomes account for 1 in 5 new homes under construction. In Charlotte, Tri Pointe Homes, a home building company said they are already seeing the demand.

“When we came to market in 2019, part of our strategy was to be in the core locations close to the urban core, and that really drove us into the to the townhome market. And today, last year, on 85% of the homes we closed, about 400 were townhomes,” said Gray Shell, president of the Tri Pointe Homes Charlotte Divison.

Shell said new homeowners are looking for less maintenance, proximity, and most importantly, affordability.

“People want to live close to the to the urban core, to employment, and then affordability. With today's interest rates, people are definitely looking for smaller homes and that really pushes a lot of people to the townhomes,” said Shell.