Posted on 06/03/2016 11:53:15 AM PDT by Lorianne
There was a small ray of hope just after the Lehman collapse that one of the most lamentable characteristics of US society - the relentless urge to build massive McMansions (funding questions aside) - was fading. Alas, as the Census Bureau confirmed this week, that normalization in the innate American desire for bigger, bigger, bigger not only did not go away but is now back with a bang.
According to just released data, both the median and average size of a new single-family home built in 2015 hit new all time highs of 2,467 and 2,687 square feet, respectively.
And while it is known that in absolute number terms the total number of new home sales is still a fraction of what it was before the crisis, the one strata of new home sales which appears to not only not have been impacted but is openly flourishing once more, are the same McMansions which cater to the New Normal uberwealthy (which incidentally are the same as the Old Normal uberwealthy, only wealthier) and which for many symbolize America's unbridled greed for mega housing no matter the cost.
Not surprisingly, as size has increased so has price: as we reported recently, the median price for sold new single-family homes just hit record a high of $321,100.
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
There is a large old mansion in my town, built by a doctor in the ‘20’s. It’s a beautiful house, brick with tile roof, high ceilings, porch, balcony, big detached garage, etc. It has changed hands many times in the last 50 years, usually because the owners couldn’t handle the utility bills. The owners usually end up living in a couple of rooms and closing off most of the house in hot summers and cold winters. At one time, it changed hands for about $25,000, other times it brought $300,000. A new doctor is in it now, we’ll see how he likes it.
ACK! Open floor plans! Bleech!
(Sorry...the mere mention of them makes me simply batty.)
Regards,
Isn't it nice that we have a market that allows both and all between to be built?
My niece and her husband are in the market for a tiny house. These is only the two of them, he is deployed for months at a time and she works 60 hour weeks on average.
They have no need to have anything beyond tiny.
A friend of mine is looking for a six bedroom minimum plus in-law apartment house. They have ten children and his parents and disabled sister live with them.
I bet I’d LOVE the house you are describing. I’d love it even better if it had at least 10 acres and a pond or lake (or even a stream).
**** sigh ****
One day maybe I’ll have that.
Regards,
PS: I grew up in just such a house. No A/C, but a GIGANTIC attic fan the size of an airplane propeller. Worked like a charm when you combined it with window awnings to keep the sun from shining too directly into the windows. The heating was never a problem. There was a beast of a furnace in the basement and it pumped out hot air like a locomotive.
Liberals sure do love telling others how to live their lives.
Yes.
I can see your point.
We all have our preferences, and what we can also afford.
I don't like cookie cutter McMansions and wooden RVs on wheels that are called "tiny houses."
That was all I said - apparently it touched some kind of nerve. Not sure why.
Our race is given by Almighty God. That is who made us - you and I.
I judge people by how they have accepted Jesus Christ, or not.
How do you judge them?
If it was on either coast, it would be worth a lot more.
Because that was not what you said.
Nobody wants them. Nobody wants your stucco crap build in a field 4,000 sq foot godless garbage house. And on the flip side, nobody wants your Marxist "tiny house" on wheels that can't be parked either.
You did not say that you didn't care for something, you said that Nobody liked them.
People pointed out that you were wrong. And the "godless" comment was more then a little out of line.
But your focus is on cookie cutter McMansions and wooden RVs on wheels. OK. Got it.
“I judge people by how they have accepted Jesus Christ, or not.
How do you judge them?”
—
Not the same way that you do.
I have Jewish friends.
.
Agreed. All the “stuff,” plus there is no cozy family setup in a house like that. Everyone is far away in their own world. When I walk through huge homes I “see” an unhappy family living in it.
I don’t know what the present owner paid for it. Since it’s in a small town, it isn’t worth what it would bring in a city, especially a growing one, but housing prices are getting ridiculous even here. I can’t believe the real estate listings in this poor little burg.
It occupies about 1/4 of a small-town block, and is on a highway that runs through town. I think the house was actually built by a banker before the depression, not a Dr. as I said before.
We all need salvation - including the Jewish people whom I love with all my heart. Don’t you know what the Scriptures say?
Thanks for explaining. Yes, the cookie cutter homes are eyesores. Also, they tend to be too closely packed together on small lots so they are cheek to jowl so you can see what your neighbors are doing and vice versa. I like to have a large lot with much privacy and lots of trees and gardens around me. I can walk out in my yard naked if I wanted to but I don’t want to scare the local wildlife.
We want to break the need to have homebuyers pay say an extra $100,000 so the local school district can pocket a mere extra $1,000/year per new house.
As for “open plans” to bypass room count taxation, any room in excess of 200 square feet with a kitchen area might have that kitchen area broken off and counted as a separate room.
Any really large “open plan” room area (left) that has a floor point to floor point distance in excess of 2.2 times its ceiling height might be taxed as two rooms.
The property tax system needs to catch up in terms of equality with court mandated school funding requirements.
New Jersey suburbanites shouldn’t be paying extra so Newark slumlords can underpay the Newark school district.
And the money those people have comes from taxpayers, in one way or another, either government salaries or lobbying firms.
That is an utterly ridiculous house design. Every corner adds to the price, all those peaks are wasted space, and imagine the price of re-shingling. (Or the poor roofers)
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