No House Will Ever Be Big Enough, Rawr
Trulia’s Chief Economist Jed Kolko wrote this week that 27% of Americans say their ideal home size is over 2,600 square feet, up from 17% in 2011. Those expressing interest in the “super-sized” house category, 3,200 square feet and above, climbed to 11% from 6%.
Earlier this month, we wrote about the big-home trend. According to the Census Bureau, the average size of a newly built home was 2,480 square feet in 2011. That was up 3.7% from 2010 and represented the first annual increase since 2007. Low interest rates are a big driver here. Over the course of 30 years, tacking on an extra room can boost the mortgage by just a few dollars a month.
—McMansions are BACK Y’ALL. Down with tiny houses! (For a visualization of square-footage, see here.)
I don’t even know what’s I’d DO with 2,600 square feet. I cannot wrap my head around needing or wanting that amount of space. But I also live in a 285 square foot studio apartment, so I am flabbergasted when people say their 600 square foot apartments are “tiny.”
@moreteawesley Hi me! I’m looking to upgrade to something between 450-600 square feet. When I look at units over 700 I just start to think “this is more for me to clean and more space for me to fill with crap I don’t need.”
@moreteawesley I think my studio is about 400-500 sf and I LOVE it. So much easier to clean, less crap to buy! I went home to visit my family in Texas(state of the McMansions) and was flabbergasted by the size of houses there – how in the world do they keep it clean?!
@MuffyStJohn @lalaland: Yes! Exactly. I can barely keep my sub-300 sq ft place clean, if I lived in a McMansion I’d just end up on Hoarders. It would look like that scene where Scrooge McDuck swims in his money, only with mountains of unopened mail and discarded cookie boxes instead.
@moreteawesley @MuffyStJohn @lalaland: Yep, same here. I have 350 square feet and it’s the perfect size, though still always too messy (or I just own too much stuff?). The only thing I wished is to have more windows or better light. But after the heat wave this week, I am so happy for my dark cave- it’s been so cool I haven’t even had to turn the AC on!
@MuffyStJohn I was just thinking this! I would like to live somewhere small to moderately sized because I like to live in a clutter-free environment and I don’t need or want to accumulate a lot of stuff and therefore have lots of places to store it in.
Except for my closet. i would like a big closet.
…
*the worst*
@moreteawesley What’s really crazy, and what I didn’t notice growing up in TX are the # of storage facilities there. It’s basically McMansion, McMansion, McMansion, Bob’s Self-Storage, McMansion…How is there a demand for self-storage? Insanity, I tell you.
So basically, by 2030 the average American is going to want a house the size of Rhode Island.
Sounds reasonable.
Over 2,600 square feet! For what?! Maybe Americans are getting fatter because they are spreading to fill all this space they don’t really need.
You can use the extra space to keep your tiny houses in, maybe?