Shumita Basu

In the 1970s, homes with four or more bedrooms accounted for one in five homes.

In 2022, close to half of all new construction met that metric.

Part of the problem is that there are a lot of incentives for these bigger homes to get built.

For one, builders see higher profit margins.

And there are local regulations and zoning requirements that have contributed to the trend.

Buyers who are looking for larger homes have also driven the demand for extras that accompany them, like larger garages, for example, and at least two full bathrooms.

All of that, Weil says, has made it tougher and more demoralizing for people trying to quite literally get their foot in the door of a starter home.

Recently, there have been some signs of change.

The share of two-bedroom and smaller homes has crept up a bit in recent years, while the share of larger homes has declined, according to census data.

And a number of cities like St.

Louis and Minneapolis, as well as states like Arizona, Texas and Colorado, have been working on initiatives to help get these smaller homes constructed and on the market.

And finally, a few other stories we're following.

All three living former Fed chairs are speaking out against the DOJ's inquiry into Jerome Powell.

A statement signed by past chiefs Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan, along with 10 other former officials, called it, quote, an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine the Fed's independence.

Several Republicans also criticized the probe.

Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina, the key GOP member on the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees the Fed, said he would oppose any new nominees until the legal matter is resolved.

According to CNN, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant is also unhappy about the decision.

Trump has so far distanced himself from the investigation, telling NBC News that he didn't know anything about the subpoenas that were issued.

One of New York City's nurses' unions went on strike Monday night at midnight as some 15,000 nurses walked off the job in the city's largest such strike ever.

The stoppage involved several of the city's private and nonprofit hospitals.