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That's a good point. But a 2.5X increase in house sizes doesn't account for the 100X rise in house prices.

If a house cost $2000 in 1950, it probably costs $200K now. It can't all be due to increase in house size.

The biggest culprits probably are tax incentives for homeownership, increased population, zoning laws limiting housing development and international investment tied to citizenship attainment.

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It's worth noting that square footage is not the only metric that houses have increased by.

Houses have more amenities (e.g. central air). Houses have more volume via higher ceilings; 30 or 40 foot foyers were mostly for the unbelievably rich before McMansions. How big are lawns? The garage? And so on.

I don't think it's everything, but it's not insignificant.

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