The average square footage of houses that were built during the recent real estate boom had shown a continual increase during those years. "Bigger is better" is no longer the trend as home buyers are building smaller houses based on how they spend time with an eye towards an efficient use of space, minimizing maintenance and allowing more quality time, while staying within a more conservative budget. There are several reasons for this downsizing trend that will be explained here.

The cost of owning a home needs to now make sense in relation to the cost of renting a home. During the McMansions explosion years it was often assumed that there will always be someone coming along later who will be willing to pay more for the larger homes than what the seller had paid for it.  High appreciation had been a reason to justify the large difference between the cost of home ownership of a large home and the cost of renting. High home appreciation for large homes in Western North Carolina is now on hold. The easy loans for oversized expensive homes are also gone. Loan qualifying ratios are no longer liberal so buyers are not only desiring to now live within their means, new lending standards are now restricting them to what them can conservatively afford.

The downsizing of homes to meet the criteria of 'todays home budgets" is resulting in considerably smaller homes, eliminating dining and living rooms along with cutting out two story entrances. New home communities in Western North Carolina which had which had originally allowed only larger homes of 4000 square feet or more are now adding sections where smaller homes such as cottages (or cabins) can be built within their development. Another trend appearing in some new home communities is to maintain the same width as larger homes for their front elevations and then decrease the depth of a home so that they will blend in with the larger homes that are nearby and at the same time satisfy the downsizing demand. 

The Baby Boomers need for a large house decreases as their kids leave the home. Some common desires for this generation is to get one story homes which are easier to get around (less steps and wider walkways). A Baby Boomers trend away from large homes will also continue to increase as retirement years come and they seek to increase their recreation time while decreasing their home maintenance time, and decrease the cost of being a homeowner along with their decreasing income. The huge dream house is now being replaced by a cottage so that rather spending hours to maintain a home, time can be spent actually enjoying their home. With the newer smaller and efficient homes that are Green Built utility expenses are also decreasing.  Where the ad valorem tax system is used for real estate, eliminating the extra space that is not needed often results in lower taxes so this becomes another factor to downsize.

There are several characteristics of houses evolving as the downsizing trend for houses continues. Square footage continues to decrease with consideration given to use and efficiency of space. Outdoor space is increasing especially in Western North Carolina with screen porches, decks, and patios. Closets are not decreasing as walkin closets with built in storage space remains popular. Kitchens along with their islands are not shrinking while utilitarian space such as walkin pantries will continually be a popular trend in luxury homes. Space for home office should remain as the comforts of a home combines with the efficiency of having a home office.

The popular trend to move to the Western North Carolina mountains is expected to continue for many years to come. Information about other real estate trends can be found on David Craven's blog. Some of the trends that were covered for 2009 on David Craven's blog include real estate market trends, log homes, Green Building, timberframes, and top places to buy a second home (Asheville NC).

David Craven
RE/MAX Mountain Realty
David@DavidCraven.com

Home buyers can now receive information by email for all new real estate listings in the Western North Carolina Mountain MLS at www.WaynesvilleHomes-ForSale.com. This includes foreclosures and short sale. Prospective buyers just need to fill out the necessary information on the new listing notifier found on the MLS Listings Search page. Home buyers can also do the search themselves with the free access to the regional MLS.