Bigger price tags on smaller homes, the Chicago Bears refuse to commit to a new stadium site, and Dolly Parton’s commercial real estate success. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of Aug. 24-28.
Miss: Shrinkflation in Real Estate. Today’s new homes are smaller than the properties that were built over the previous decade, according to a new analysis by LendingTree that found the average US new home size shrank by 11.6% from 2,724 square feet in 2015 to 2,409 in 2025. In 2025, 25% of new homes were under 1,800 square feet, up from 16% in 2015. In contrast, homes that were greater than 3,000 square feet fell in market share from 33% to 20%. However, what didn’t shrink were prices. LendingTree reported new home prices per square foot surged 71.9%, from $100.02 in 2015 to $171.95 in 2025. LendingTree’s Chief Consumer Finance Analyst Matt Schulz said it best: “Buyers may be getting less house, but they certainly aren’t getting a bargain.”
Miss: Those Indecisive Bears. One of the strangest stories this week saw NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledging that he recently conducted an unpublicized meeting with several Illinois lawmakers to discuss the future of the Chicago Bears. Goodell offered little insight on the depth and scope of the meetings, which occurred while the team’s executives insisted they were focused on selecting a site in Hammond, Indiana, for a new enclosed stadium. Although Indiana has given the team a standing offer to cross the state line for their new home, Illinois lawmakers have not provided a counteroffer to help finance a stadium in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. Still, Goodell seems to be trying to push the team out of a potential Indiana relocation. “We want to make sure that Arlington Heights and Illinois have an opportunity, as well as Indiana, to put their best foot forward,” he said. Lest we forget, the team was supposed to make a final decision on their new stadium in late spring. It is long overdue for the Bears to stop playing games and make up their mind.
Miss: Continued Embarrassment. This week, a lawyer for Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook bluntly stated that President Trump’s effort to fire her over mortgage fraud allegations was bogus. The Wall Street Journal noted that Abbe Lowell, Cook’s attorney, responded to a White House letter demanding that Cook answer the accusations raised by a certain mortgage regulator (and, yes, let’s have one week of Hits and Misses without mentioning his name). Lowell repeated Cook’s claims that there was no mortgage fraud and then tartly added, “In 1993, President Trump reportedly acquired ‘primary’ residence mortgages for two different Florida homes just seven weeks apart…According to reports, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blanche have both entered into ‘primary’ residence mortgages for multiple homes.” Considering that Trump’s Justice Department has never secured an indictment against Cook, the insinuations that she is a criminal need to stop. Trump has a chronic inability to admit mistakes but, in this case, he needs to make an exception and drop his embarrassing harassment of Cook.
Miss: Curtain Down. One of New York City’s most popular movie theaters is going dark at the end of the year. Variety reports the AMC Kips Bay 15, which opened in 1999 and has been operated by the AMC chain since 2006, is one of the city’s largest theaters and offered a wide variety of different films. A spokesperson for the AMC chain said the closure comes “following the property owner’s decision to exercise its contractual right to terminate the theatre’s lease before its scheduled expiration.” It is unclear what will replace the theater, which has 15 auditoriums including one with a massive IMAX screen. It is cruelly ironic that the theater is going dark now that movie lovers are returning to theaters following the disruptions created by the pandemic and the challenge from streaming services.
Miss: A Big Ouch. Elsewhere in the New York City metro area, the City Council in Jersey City, New Jersey approved an $886 million budget that includes a 15.15% property tax hike coupled with major reductions to most municipal departments. The Gothamist reports the budget is designed to address the $255 million deficit burdening the Garden State’s second largest city. Nathaniel Styer, a spokesperson for Mayor James Solomon, said the mayor “fought for and won a historic $120 million aid package from Trenton [the state capital] to lessen the burden on Jersey City taxpayers and protect vital city services this year – like right to counsel, safer streets and public safety,” Styer said. “While both the cuts and tax increase are painful, we believe they are the first steps towards getting Jersey City’s finances back to healthy and stable.” Still, it is a tough remedy for a difficult situation. Councilmember Michael Griffin abstained from the vote because he was unable to back a property tax hike “knowing that people are going to be pushed out of their homes and there’s no real relief for the homeowners.”
In Memoriam: Dolly Parton. This week’s passing of country music legend Dolly Parton brought out countless tributes to her peerless talent as an entertainer and her uncommon generosity as a philanthropist. A lesser-known aspect of Parton’s life was her great success as a commercial real estate developer and investor. According to CoStar Group, Parton owned a 50% stake in the popular 165-acre Dollywood Theme Park and Resorts in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, that is estimated at $165 million. She also invested in several themed dinner-theater venues in Tennessee, as well as the new Dolly Parton’s SongTeller Hotel in downtown Nashville that is scheduled to begin taking reservations next month. Parton mixed real estate and philanthropy in 2023 when she donated her 1,800-square-foot Idyllwild, California mountain cabin to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California in 2023, which later sold the property for $585,000. Parton’s success in her multiple endeavors was a testament to her unique personality and her God-given gift for bringing happiness to the world. She will be greatly missed.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
Photo of Dolly Parton’s Tennessee Mountain Home at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, by Lorie Shaull / Flickr Creative Commons
0 Comments