It seems that we Australians really are into upsizing. Latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) indicates we may be building the biggest homes in the world at present. The fact that Australia only faltered a little during the recent world economic meltdown has meant we have continued to grow whilst many other nations downsized their homes.
Free-standing homes in Australia are being built with floor plan measurements of 245.3sqm. This compares to the US whose new homes have shrunk a little to 201.5sqm. In Europe, Denmark leads the way with 137 sqm, followed by Greece (126 sqm), and the Netherlands (115.5 sqm). The UK chimes in with a pokey 76 sqm.
Considering some new homes are pretty small with bedrooms that barely fit a single bed let alone anything else, we must be building some fairly big homes to aver over 240sqm. We are seeing a huge shift in culture however with children staying on in the home well into their 20′s. In the past mum and dad would have downsized after the kids left home – now they are staying put. This has meant a shortage of larger homes forcing people to build larger homes.
We like to upsize everything here in Australia – it used to be cars but with the cost of fuel now, we are going for bigger plasma TV’s – and of course, we need bigger homes to house them, don’t we? You can see the news story here.
