Have your students explore this interactive from the Census Bureau to learn more about the characteristics of single-family homes built and sold in 2018. Putting the cursor over the yellow circle and blue squares in the interactive reveal information about the specific feature in the house. Lots of opportunities for math teachers teaching percents with this interactive as students can calculate how prevalent each home feature is. 

Questions:

• What was the median square footage for a new home built in 2018? sold in 2018? 
• What was the average sales price for new home sold in 2018? 
• Calculate the cost per square foot for the new home sold in 2018 based on your answers to the first two questions.
• What percent of new homes sold had more than 4 bedrooms? 
• Which home features were most prevalent in new homes SOLD? Which were least prevalent? This question requires analyzing each of the home features and calculating the percent of each new home SOLD that had that specific feature. 
• BONUS: What percent of homes that were built in 2018 were also sold in that same year? 

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Did this capture your students' interest in housing? Try this NGPF Lesson on Renting an Apartment. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.