Size 8 or plus size

Where are we heading in our homes?

In 2017, Australia overtook the USA in the big house stakes. In an unofficial survey of ten countries, after them came Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, United Kingdom and China.

Last year, new-build dwellings in Australia ranked second largest in the world behind the USA. In fact, using ABS data, CommSec found the average footprint of a new Australian home was the smallest it had been since 1996.

When Statistics NZ figures last year showed that the average value of new dwelling consents had fallen, it was suggested the reason was a reduction in the average size of stand-alone houses, townhouses and home units. New Zealand house prices have increased faster than other OECD countries since 1990. The size of new houses has risen substantially. In 1990, the average new house was just 125sqm. Last year it dropped to 215sqm.

Let’s take a look at what Australians and New Zealanders are liking and doing when it comes to their homes.

When realestate.com.au looked at properties listed on its website in 2018, the most sought after home in the nation was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a double garage on 670sqm. Median house price was $680,000.

New South Wales home owners mirrored this preferred home but faced a $895,000 median and a 639sqm block. Victorians like the same house, though with a lower median price and slightly larger block than NSW. Queenslanders also liked their homes as per the majority of Australians, but were keen for more land than other eastern states, at approximately 688sqm. In Western Australia they liked similar size houses on blocks that sat between NSW and Victoria in size.

Three bedroom homes had most appeal in South Australia and the ACT, though still with two-bathroom and two-car garaging. Northern Territorians liked a 842sqm block with a spacious four-bedroom home. In Tasmania, it seems home owners will give up one of the bedrooms and even one of the bathrooms but prefer a larger block size.

While a similar breakdown of buyers’ choices around New Zealand wasn’t found, some of the most-loved New Zealand properties in recent years, as featured by Homes To Love, demonstrate just how varied home owner appeal can be.

The winner to come out of 2017, for example, was a home wedged into the surrounds of a supermarket, a carpark and a mishmash of shops. The small site’s commercial zoning gave the option to design to the boundary, resulting in a family home and studio with plenty of outdoor space, which seems much larger than its 159sqm. home, purchased and refurbished by a fashion designer and her family to create a spacious, four-bedroom, open-plan home that flowed seamlessly out to the deck and garden.

A major DIY project restored a Christchurch villa to its former glory; while a Wellington couple downsized to a simple, accessible, solid and low maintenance 124sqm weathered cedar box with two bedroom, ensuite and main bathroom, study and two decks.

And proving that small can still be ‘wow’, one couple opted for an amazing 7.2 by 2.4 metre cottage on wheels; whilst two 74sqm, two-storey, two-bedroom town houses looked stunning on a 300sqm site.

Where will housing be this time next year, and what trends will home owners have followed?

It seems that Generation Y, Millennials, couples and small families all want to live closer to work, cafes, restaurants, shopping and airports, and are prepared to give up living space for better proximity to such desirable amenities. Apartments could contribute to the smaller home size perspective, though apartments are not restricted to ‘small’.

But have Australians and New Zealanders truly embraced the idea of downsizing to more affordable, low maintenance apartment living, or is owning a larger house with a big backyard still what most people aspire to? Perhaps only the future can shed some light on the past!