Big, stupid houses

Like many American resort towns, Park City has seen the average size of its houses more than double over a 20 year period. The reasons behind these bloated dwellings seem to be more than just a fashion trend; granted, the skyrocketing cost of raw land is a clear driver, but not just the only one. A popular belief is that, in order to enhance resale, a house should be large enough to match market demand (which would suppose that the market precisely wants big homes), another one is that a modern home needs more rooms, such as a recreation room, media room, home office(s), extra bedrooms, all with their own bathrooms, pushing inexorably the need for extra space. Similarly, a three-car garage is now standard while an increasing number of larger homes feature four or more garages… The problems with big homes are many; first they are more expensive to build, as interior volume grows faster than total square footage. They’re also more expensive to heat or cool, maintain and update, especially after 10 or 12 years following construction. Another observation is that larger space encourages sloppy and inefficient design as well as poor finishes that never get “caught” in the various stages of design and construction. In a market like Park City, there’s now a plethora of huge homes, but a rarified supply of small, high quality homes. The demand for smaller homes is about to be exacerbated by a large contingent of baby-boomers becoming empty-nesters who are ready to unload their “big, stupid” home for a small, high quality one. So the question becomes what will happen with the huge inventory of big homes for sale? Like with cars and SUVs, it seems quite likely that soon, bloated homes will become politically incorrect and will further lose their luster and appeal. If you are considering downsizing, better do it fast!