Death of the 'McMansion': Era of Huge Homes Is Over (square footage, price)

[mcm2010]

Death of the 'McMansion': Era of Huge Homes Is Over - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Death-of-the-McMansion-Era-of-cnbc-1051033821.html?x=0 - broken link)

Told ya'll irrational exhuberance was so 5 years ago...lol

[chet everett]

You know the kind that Uncle Milty was on. And micrpwavesmare being sent to landfills so folks can roast a whole goat on a spit over their walk-in cooking hearth, even indoor plumbing is passé , folks want out houses and hand pumped wells.


Believe any of that and you will too WILL BUY THE HYPE FROM BS DEVELOPERS THAT ARE TRYING TO SQUEEZE MORE HOUSES INTO LESS LAND IN A ERA WHERE THEYNARE STUCK WITH OVER PRICED TRACTS OF LAND! Demand sucks are they are bending the ears of gullible reporters that want to believe the hype about "green" development. It is a crock. People just flat out are not comfortable spending and lies from developers will not make up for uncertain jobs, prospects for runaway taxes, masive government and all the other changes that no one hoped for...

[Rakin]

The families I'm working with still want the media rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3 car garages and all the features. It's not the size they've cut back on but are now demanding those homes to be highly energy efficient.

More Boomer's are downsizing and that may cause the stats to appear to be smaller for new homes.

[cohdane]

Count me among those who have never seen the appeal of McMansions, despite being able to afford one. Not all new large homes are McMansions, but the majority are. Horribly designed, ostentatious, out of scale and style with the surrounding neighborhood and yes-- in many cases-- irresponsible. Families don't really need a separate bedroom and bath for every person occupying the house. Plus an extra or two for occasional guests or in-laws who have yet to move in.

That said, to each his own, people can buy what they want.

I've been saying McMansions are on the way out since 2007. Still believe that. Easy financing and a baby boomer generation that birthed Conspicuous Consumption in the 1980's are what fed the McMansion craze. Now that you need actual MONEY to buy one (gasp), now that the exclusivity is diminished because they're so common, now that a non-baby-boomer generation is making the home buying decisions....you can write the obituary.

I'll be curious to see whether these homes fade into the scenery in 20 years or whether they're viewed with revulsion as symbols of the excess and credit-based lifestyle that helped crash the country.

Time will tell.

[TexasHorseLady]

If, as people often did in times past, a young couple starting out knew that they likely were going to live in that house for the rest of their lives, including that period of time when they have teenagers at home and in-laws moving in with them, giant homes would make sense for them. With our current lifestyle of changing homes almost as often as we change vehicles, not so much. But many young people think they DESERVE a home that their parents worked up to, even if they don't need it, and the builders have been more than happy to accommodate them.

By the way, the most energy efficient home from a planetary standpoint is one that survives and is used for generations. Not a new home with the latest "energy efficient" bells and whistles, if there's an older alternative that can be retrofitted without having to use up more resources (and land) in order to build a new one.

Interestingly, the more money we made, the less house and the more land we wanted to purchase (and did). Now, we live in a two-bedroom (three if we use the old "front parlor" as a bedroom), one bath home, but when I go for a walk in the morning, I can walk to the back of the property and back again and get in a mile walk never leaving our place, and do the same to the front and get in a half a mile. WAY better than more house to clean!

I'm a boomer, by the way, and have never lived in anything approximating a McMansion - by choice. Same with my Boomer friends, now that I think about it.

[Lacerta]

How exactly is "McMansion" defined? I've never been clear on that. In my area, we have two types of large homes.

We have have large, nice, custom homes in subdivisions full of other large, nice, custom homes, that are all higher priced than the average home and have lots of nice upgrades, and are all around nice houses.

Then we have production homes, which are large, but very very basic. In other words you are buying square footage, but NO upgrades. They are usually in subdivisions of other similar houses.

Would either of these be called McMansions? Because both are still popular here, the latter moreso than the former, because not so many people can afford the former these days.

[TheyCallMeDerek]

Originally Posted by Rakin

The families I'm working with still want the media rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3 car garages and all the features. It's not the size they've cut back on but are now demanding those homes to be highly energy efficient.

More Boomer's are downsizing and that may cause the stats to appear to be smaller for new homes.

I agree with Rankin on this one. I'm seeing the same thing...Boomers/empty nesters that are downsizing but upgrading.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Interestingly, the more money we made, the less house and the more land we wanted to purchase (and did). Now, we live in a two-bedroom (three if we use the old "front parlor" as a bedroom), one bath home, but when I go for a walk in the morning, I can walk to the back of the property and back again and get in a mile walk never leaving our place, and do the same to the front and get in a half a mile. WAY better than more house to clean!

I'm a boomer, by the way, and have never lived in anything approximating a McMansion - by choice. Same with my Boomer friends, now that I think about it.

THL, sounds like you need a better group of friends. Nothing like a close friend with a big house and pool where you can throw all your parties.

I really chuckle at todays young couples who are looking at 4000sf homes and make comments that their precious 2 year olds room will only be 12 x 12 or so. Most of us old people grew up with 2-3 brothers / sisters sharing a tiny bedroom. I never had a separate bedroom till my older brother went off to college.

We certainly don't want to have our little ones to feel neglected. Those kids rooms are bigger then my 1st dorm room at college.

[TexasHorseLady]

Unless it's a friend with a ranch where you can throw parties where no one needs to drive home after the party because they can just camp out if they want! (Substitute "swimming hole" for "pool".)

[Lacerta]

Originally Posted by Rakin

I really chuckle at todays young couples who are looking at 4000sf homes and make comments that their precious 2 year olds room will only be 12 x 12 or so. Most of us old people grew up with 2-3 brothers / sisters sharing a tiny bedroom. I never had a separate bedroom till my older brother went off to college.

We certainly don't want to have our little ones to feel neglected. Those kids rooms are bigger then my 1st dorm room at college.

See, that's where I have trouble. Is a large house automatically a McMansion? From the time I was 12 until I went away to college, my family of 4 + 1 inlaw lived in a 6000 square foot house with all the upgrades and niceties. My room was probably 15x15 with 16 foot vaulted ceilings. My closet was nearly as large as my 1st dorm room at college. My parent's closet was larger than most master bedrooms. But I don't think of that as a McMansion, because it was not just square footage, it was quality, and it was in a subdivision to match.

My parents, who are now empty nesters, have "downsized" to a 3300 square foot house, again with all the nice features. My mom designed both houses, and my parents, who are builders, built them both.

I define a McMansion as square footage without quality.