Average house size in 1960 was roughly 1000 sq ft. Average house size now is roughly two and a half times larger. We’ve also gone from a near universal 8ft ceiling height to trendy 10ft ceilings. We’re using far more material per unit, even as family sizes have never been smaller.
At some point people have to pay attention to consumption habits.
There’s still plenty of scope for corporate shenanigans on top of all that, but they’re not the whole story.
My impression is that developers like to build more premium housing because they can sell it for higher margins. This is probably a symptom of “houses for investment” vs. “houses for homes”. How much my house is worth is largely hypothetical if I’m living in it. I have to live somewhere after all, and if I sell it, I just have to live somewhere else.
I think some of that is a catch 22: At one point I went from a 1000sq ft house (built in 1956) to a 2500sq ft house (built in 1985). I had a pile of empty rooms, so ended up filling the space with more stuff, stuff that was almost never used.
I changed cities and went down to a 1000sq ft condo. I was kinda stunned by all the extra crap that I had accumulated that was absolutely useless. Ended up giving a pile of stuff to thrift stores and sold some.
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Average house size in 1960 was roughly 1000 sq ft. Average house size now is roughly two and a half times larger. We’ve also gone from a near universal 8ft ceiling height to trendy 10ft ceilings. We’re using far more material per unit, even as family sizes have never been smaller.
At some point people have to pay attention to consumption habits.
There’s still plenty of scope for corporate shenanigans on top of all that, but they’re not the whole story.
My impression is that developers like to build more premium housing because they can sell it for higher margins. This is probably a symptom of “houses for investment” vs. “houses for homes”. How much my house is worth is largely hypothetical if I’m living in it. I have to live somewhere after all, and if I sell it, I just have to live somewhere else.
I would love to buy a 1500 SQ ft rancher with 8’ foot ceilings.
No one fuckin builds them anymore though. 10’ high ceilings just means a 25% higher heating bill.
…and a 25% higher ceiling!
/badum
I’ll see myself out.
I’m not saying this is the whole explanation. but people have a lot more shit than they used to.
I think some of that is a catch 22: At one point I went from a 1000sq ft house (built in 1956) to a 2500sq ft house (built in 1985). I had a pile of empty rooms, so ended up filling the space with more stuff, stuff that was almost never used.
I changed cities and went down to a 1000sq ft condo. I was kinda stunned by all the extra crap that I had accumulated that was absolutely useless. Ended up giving a pile of stuff to thrift stores and sold some.