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Australians built bigger apartments over the past year, reflecting the pandemic-driven shift in preferences for larger living spaces.<\/p>\n
CommSec’s Annual Home Size Report 2020\/2021 showed the average size of apartments completed over the past year reached an 11-year high of 138.3sqm, up 0.4% annually.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the size of a free-standing house averaged 229.3sqm on average, which represent a 2.9% decline from a seven-year high.<\/p>\n
Overall, the size of homes built over the past year, including houses and apartments, averaged 195.8sqm, which is down from the six-year high set in 2019.<\/p>\n
Where the biggest homes are<\/h2>\n
ACT had the biggest houses over the year, with sizes averaging 259.3sqm.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Victoria built the largest apartments, which span around an average of 156.8sqm.<\/p>\n
However, Western Australia had the highest combined average size for both homes at 214.8sqm.<\/p>\n
Historical data show Australians built the biggest homes in 2009\/2010, when the average home size peaked at 218.6sqm.<\/p>\n
At around the same time, homes in the United States also reached their size peak.<\/p>\n
“After falling from 2010 to 2012, home size in both the US and Australia broadly trended sideways in the past eight years,” the report said.<\/p>\n
“While homes haven\u2019t been getting much bigger in recent years, they are still notably larger than those built by previous generations.”<\/p>\n
In fact, detached homes in Australia are 24% bigger than the house built 30 years ago while new homes, which include apartments, are 14% bigger.<\/p>\n
Factors driving the changes in home sizes<\/h2>\n
Still, the report said several factors are behind the decreasing size of detached house in both the US and Australia.<\/p>\n
“Various reasons include increased focus on sustainability, desire for low-maintenance homes, smaller lot sizes, fewer people per home, affordability, a desire for proximity to inner cities, and energy costs,” the report said.<\/p>\n
The report noted that while the COVID-19 pandemic might have influenced the sizes of homes recently, it remains relatively early to tell whether it had a lasting impact.<\/p>\n
“The experience with Covid-19 has certainly caused more families to look for bigger homes and caused others to add extra rooms to existing homes,” it said.<\/p>\n
“More Aussies want to achieve a situation where family members are able to live, work and relax at home. No doubt, builders and architects have been quick to respond to the new demands by families.”<\/p>\n
Before the pandemic, many Australian households prefer to live in apartments.<\/p>\n
Apartment sizes have reached their record lows in 2017\/2018.<\/p>\n
“The conclusion that many Aussies appear to have reached is that apartments became too small to be truly comfortable and practical,” the report said.<\/p>\n
In the current setting, trends of building butler\u2019s pantries, storages for boots, coats and wet clothing, and home theatres provide more families justification to build bigger homes.<\/p>\n
“The big question is whether Aussies continue to embrace working from home, opting to move away from apartments in, or near the CBD, in preference for a larger home in a regional or suburban \u2018lifestyle\u2019 area,” the report said.<\/p>\n
“Or it may be just a case that bigger apartments will be sought \u2013 either close to capital cities or in the suburbs.”<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
Photo by Francesca Tosolini on Unsplash.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n