Supersize is suddenly becoming downsize as home buyers opt for smaller, more
efficient homes, one of Australia's largest property developers says.
Stockland chief executive for residential communities, Mark Hunter told
Fairfax newspapers on Thursday that the average four-bedroom home had shrunk 20
per cent since 2007.
Mr Hunter said smaller three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes were "the new
sweet spot" in the market.
Mr Hunter told the Sydney Morning Herald the era of the so-called McMansions
was over and he expected home sizes to shrink as fast as they grew in the first
decade of this century.
Contributing downsize factors included rising power prices, the amount of
time lost in home maintenance, heating and cooling and that by cutting 70
square metres from the size of a new home owners can save between $40,000 and
$60,000, Stockland said.