Australian House sizes are getting smaller

 

 

Australian homes remain among the biggest in the world but the average floor size has fallen to an 11-year low.

 

The shift from building bigger homes is a profound one and illustrates how Australia’s demographics and lifestyle drivers continue to change.

 

Generation Y are driving the trend, but baby boomers are also in the process of downsizing, perhaps selling their four to five-bedroom homes in preference for retirement homes or city apartment.

 

New houses built in 2012-13 had an average floor area of 241 square metres, which represented a reduction of 1.6 per cent on the previous year, and the average floor area of new apartments rose by 1.3 per cent to 133 square metres over the same period.

 

But overall, the average size of all newly constructed dwellings fell 1.9 per cent in the past financial year, the fourth consecutive year of space consolidation and the smallest home size recorded in 11 years.

 

CommSec chief economist Craig James says the move towards smaller homes is thanks to a focus on “experiences” rather than an aspiration for a “bigger castle”