House Price Trends

Mathew Quinn, the Managing Director of Stocklands, advised yesterday that the average size of a four-bedroom house has dropped 20 per cent since 2007 while three-bedroom houses have shrunk by 26 per cent over the same period, as living areas, media rooms and hallways disappeared in more compact designs.
Before this change, Sydney houses were amongst the most expensive in the world, and this was in part because they were the biggest in the world. According to Mr Quinn the average new home grew 10 per cent to a world record 215 square metres in the decade to 2009. Clearly this must have contributed to the sky high cost of Sydney housing!
The concrete used in housebuilding gives off a lot of carbon dioxide as it sets, so the trend to smaller houses will bring environmental benefits both during building and later, with lower energy consumption for heating and cooling the smaller houses.