The days of the showy McMansion are drawing to a close. In today’s tanking economy, homebuyers are being thrifty when it comes to the size of their dwellings. And lets be serious, choosing a smaller square footage means less to clean.
Cal Warlick editorial cartoon
Homebuyers are returning to the glory days when home sizes were modest and family rooms weren’t as “Great.” The latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau are proving just that – the median size of new homes dropped in the third quarter of 2008 to 2,090 square feet, from 2,291, which is roughly where home sizes were in 2000. To give any indication where we’ve come from, that median number was 1,400 square feet in 1970.
With this decrease in home sizes, there’s a good chance that more of a market will develop for many – those on a budget, the eco-minded and empty nesters looking to downsize their slice of the dream.
In this era where more homeowners are finding their thrifty and eco-conscious sides, they are also becoming more creative in what they are doing with spaces. Areas of the house that were once too small to do anything with are now becoming the nooks where the family computer lives or where the kids can eat breakfast in the morning.
Speaking specifically to green building, the NAHB Model Green Homebuilding Guidelines now awards points to small homes. The small mansions that builders have dreamed up in the last ten years have just gotten plain excessive. Now that homes are being recognized for energy output by a national set of standards, hopefully potential customers will take a look at exactly what they currently need or are planning for in a family.
Over the past year, top national homebuilders began addressing the topic of green features within their homes focusing mostly on indoor air quality, water conservation and energy conservation. But a good amount of those homes are in excess of 4,000 square feet. Now can that really be considered green?
Rafter Tales
So in the next few years, while the government continues to iron out the economy, expect to see a return to the times when Cape Cod homes ruled and people lived within their means – only now the men may be more likely to be vacuuming those floors.
Tags: eco-conscious, green building, home buyers, home sizes, homebuilders, homeowner, homes, McMansion
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