Homes with 9 or more rooms make up bulk of NJ's growth

[Kire]

Stretched thin in the McMansion
Homes with 9 or more rooms make up bulk of state's growth and are pinching owners
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
BY ROBERT GEBELOFF - Star-Ledger Staff

New Jerseyans are paying higher and higher prices for new homes.

What they're getting for their money is this: More rooms and more debt, according to new Census data released yesterday.

Homes with nine or more rooms make up more than a quarter of the state's housing growth between 2000 and 2004, the data show.

In addition, the percentage of New Jersey homeowners devoting more than 35 percent of their income to mortgages, taxes and other housing costs jumped sharply, from 23 percent in 2000 to 29 percent last year.

Personal income, meanwhile, remained relatively flat.

More: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1125466440104100.xml&coll=1