American homes are getting bigger, swankier and stuffed with bathrooms, the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 Characteristics of New Housing report showed this week.

More than 45% of the 620,000 new, single-family homes completed last year had four or more bedrooms, and more than one-third had at least three bathrooms, the report revealed.

To fit all of those amenities into the homes, builders expanded their square footage to a median of 2,453, up 10% since a decade ago.

The average selling price was $345,800. The median size of a new single-family home sold was 2,506 square feet. That’s an average per-square-foot price of $97.09.

The report also counted 427,000 homes sold in 2014.

The 2014 price and amenities confirm that homebuilders are going after buyers with money as they wait for reluctant millennials to join the homeowner ranks by purchasing their first abodes.  

Just for now

An earlier Commerce Department report noted that more homes sold for $400,000-plus than for less than $200,000 last year. And The Wall Street Journal reported that 4.8% of homes sold last year for $750,000 or more.

For now, amenities seem to trump affordability. But housing industry observers say that won’t last, as pent-up demand for lower-priced homes already is swaying some builders to focus on smaller, less-pricey dwellings for first-time buyers who can better afford bare-bones than a bounty of bathrooms.

Drew Reading, a Bloomberg analyst, said the market won’t be able to sustain the high average price point for long. “They’re losing pricing now,” Reading told Bloomberg of luxury homebuilders, “so they’re moving toward volume to drive profit.”

In fact, the national median home price in the first quarter of 2015 was $210,000, down $5,000 from the prior quarter, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index reported last month.

Still, Zillow revealed in May that low-wage earners are priced out of homes — even the least-expensive ones — in one-third of American markets, and the change in inventory is unlikely to make a quick turnaround.

In the meantime, 61.7% of the new, single-family homes completed last year featured two-car garages, and nearly 90% came with some sort of outdoor feature, like a side porch or a backyard patio, the Census Bureau reported.

Bricks and sticks

As for the building’s bones: 91% had central air conditioning; 29.6% were built with vinyl siding; and 42.4% were just a single story. 19% had two-story foyers.

Gas was the heating fuel of choice in more than half of last year’s homes, as was a forced-air heating system. And just shy of 30% of new homes built in 2014 had a full or partial basement.

Multifamily measurements

The report took a peek at multifamily units as well, finding a median size of 1,080 square feet for rental apartments and 1,432 for condos.

Of the 264,000 multifamily units completed last year, 23,000 were age-restricted, 14,000 were efficiencies, 123,000 had at least two bathrooms, and 127,000 were in buildings with 50 or more units.