Thread: Home Downsizing is booming

Downsizing is booming

Smaller homes trendy again as baby boomers look to shed excess room and recession makes large homes too costly

By Tanya Mannes
September 25, 2010 at 10:51 p.m.

Goodbye, McMansion. Hello, bungalow, condo or suburban split-level.

The Great Recession may be over, but many people’s lifestyles will never be the same. They are saving more, spending less, simplifying their lives and — increasingly — downsizing their homes.

This trend, which began with the economic downturn but has dovetailed with demographic changes, has given way to a trickle-down effect for local businesses offering services to live gracefully in tight surroundings.

There are benefits to letting go of those supersized showpieces, from the lower upfront cost to smaller electric bills and less yardwork.

Median home size has dropped 6 percent since 2007, in large part because cash-strapped Americans can’t afford to buy, heat or maintain larger homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

But people are still investing money in making their homes as comfortable as they can be. The trend means work for organizers, interior designers, home-furnishings stores, carpenters with tricks to maximize shelf space and, of course, self-storage businesses for those who can’t bring themselves to part with their 1980s designer clothes or collection of African masks.

Why they’re downsizing
Colleen Cotter, a broker with Keller Williams Realty, said that her six-member team specializes in helping people relocate to downtown San Diego, and “downsizersâ€

I could never understand why people were buying such large homes to begin with. Some so big they did not have furniture in them or very little. Large families are a thing of the past so you really do not need all that square footage.

Those large homes are nothing but a resemblance of a trophy. An achievement.