A case of Goldilocks

Goldilocks found when she entered the three bears’ home that some things were too big, some were too small, and some were just right!

Fortunately, it’s a bit that way with houses.

Not only do they come in different sizes but the ‘just right’ house can easily change at different stages in your life. There are people who follow trends in home sizes.

Last year, new research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Commsec pointed to evidence that Australian homes have been shrinking in size over the past decade. Apparently, homes had been getting bigger until a few years ago. Last year, the typical area of an Australian home, including units and houses, fell to just 186.3sqm.

Free-standing houses now account for just over half of all new homes built, with high-rise apartments and town houses most in demand.

On the other side of the Tasman, according to Stats NZ, the floor area of stand-alone houses approved for construction in the year to October 2019 was 195 square metres, which was down from a peak of 218 square metres a decade ago. Traditional stand-alone houses account for about 60 percent of new dwellings in New Zealand, with the standalone houses tending to be much bigger than other options such as apartments and townhouses at an average of 100 square metres. Auckland City Council reports demonstrate the average dwelling sold in Auckland since around 2010 was approximately 135 square metres including garage.

Across all of New Zealand, new homes tend to be significantly larger than older homes. Houses built in the 1970s were typically in the 110-120 square metre range. By 2010, new homes being built were approaching 200 square metres.

Back in Australia, the Commsec report looked at the number of bedrooms in homes.

Twenty years ago, one in every six houses had four or more bedrooms. That had risen to almost a third of Australian homes at the time of the 2016 Census.

Perhaps demographic estimates can, to an extent, explain why houses needed to be larger. Certainly, in Australia, 2006 to 2013 produced the first increase in household size - i.e. the average number of people in Australian homes – in at least a century. Why? Children were staying home longer with their parents, more generations were choosing to live under the one roof, and new migrants were choosing to stay with family or friends.

However according to quarterly ABS data, since 2014, the number of people per dwelling has been falling.

For New Zealand, Stats NZ had the number of people per household generally increasing since 2008. The average household size is projected to slowly decrease between 2013 and 2038. In a report published in 2015, one-person households were projected to be the fastest growing household type in New Zealand and are expected to account for 27 percent of all households in 2038, up from 24 percent in 2013.

A ‘big is good’ cultural mantra when building has swelled house sizes, particularly in the past 20 years, putting Australia and New Zealand right among the most space-hungry builders in the world. ‘Buy as much and as big as possible’ has been the message but people are now discovering reasons why they may actually be happier if they downsize their home.

For example, generation Y, millennials, couples and small families want to live closer to work, cafes, restaurants, shopping and airports and are giving up living space for better proximity to the desirable amenities. Many look to low maintenance to free up their time. Affordability is also having an impact.

‘Tiny homes’ are drawing increased interest as an alternative to traditional housing. But, while people may be sacrificing property size, they are not scrimping on quality, with small homes featuring clever design solutions that save on space, while keeping a strong focus on practicality and aesthetics.