Say goodbye to the McMansion - Aug 2010
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The American home is shrinking. Toll the bell for the McMansion. "Home buyers are asking for less, cutting back on options and reducing square footage," said Steven Pace of the North Carolina-based Pace Development Group, which builds both custom and tract houses ranging in price from below $250,000 to more than $2 million.
"They're saying, 'Maybe we don't need that 5,000 square footage;" he said. "'Maybe our bath doesn't need to be big enough for our whole family and all our neighbors to take a shower at the same time.'" Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects, pointed out that consumers don't ask for as much for spaces devoted to single purposes, such as media rooms for watching videos and game rooms for shooting pool. Instead, the requests are for rooms with shared uses.
"We continue to move away from the 'McMansion' chapter of residential design," he said.
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A small step in the right direction.