It’s not your eyes. New apartments across Triangle are shrinking in size, study confirms.

Over the last decade, new apartments in Raleigh have shrunk in size — by around nine square feet, to be exact. So the average new one-bedroom to hit the market now comes in at around 945 square feet, according to a new study by RentCafe.

In Durham, the shrinkage is even greater. In 2022, the average new one-bedroom apartment was 908 square feet. That’s a 27-square-foot drop, the largest in the state.

The shift mirrors a national trend to smaller living spaces. The study looked at more than 130 U.S. markets and found the average size of new apartments was 887 square feet, 54 square feet smaller than 10 years ago.

Growing demand

Some developers in the Triangle say building smaller is one way to provide more affordable options as the region grapples with rapid growth.

“There’s no way to deliver an extra-large multiple bedroom apartment at a cheap price,” Raleigh businessman David Smoot told The N&O in February. “The only solution is to offer a smaller habitation that is nicely located and convenient.”

Take, for example, his latest proposal for an apartment project along one of the city’s major thoroughfares. Site plans currently under review propose building 100 “micro units” — studios typically between 200 and 400 square feet — at 1415 Hillsborough St. near Park Avenue.

The proposed cost to rent: $1,000 per month, utilities included. The average rent of a one-bedroom in Raleigh is $1,630, according to RentCafe. In Durham, it’s $1,594.

Atlas Durham is another sign of how quickly the market is changing. It opened at 321 W. Corporation St. last year with 171 units — many between 360 and 500 square feet.

By contrast, the study found new apartments in Greensboro and Winston-Salem got bigger by 126 and 77 square feet, respectively. In Charlotte, they shrank by nine square feet.

Nationally, Tallahasee, Florida, led the nation with the largest apartments, while Seattle offered the smallest apartments.