McMansions explained

There was a very good article in the Sydney Morning Herald at the weekend describing how Australia evolved into the McMansion habit. It describes how people's expectations grew from small fibro cottages at the end of the second world war to the monsters we now expect as our first houses. The key factor seems to have been the willingness of banks to lend a progressively higher percentage of the value of the house. Suddenly new first home owners could have whatever size house they wanted, and all it would need would be to pay off the mortgage. And the honeymoon interest rate seemed to make that just too easy. All very fine until interest rates start going up again.