Um, 1,700 square feet is not a “small” home!!

The home builder world is abuzz with talk of “downsizing”. Coming on the heels of a five-year development binge where “bigger is better” ruled and everyone wanted a “McMansion”, the resulting recession has led many in the construction trade to look to build smaller, and more-economically.

From the Real Deal:

At last week’s International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, designer Marianne Cusato unveiled a 1,771-square-foot model home for 2010 that left many attendees with the feeling that, for homes, trim is in. The four-bedroom home has scarcely a foot of unusable space. The casual dining room can double as a formal one, while the extra bedroom can double as a home office or a rental apartment.

Check out their website to see the video of the home or visit the Builder Concept Home 2010 website.

I nearly choked on my Cheerios. A 1,700 square foot home is not “cozy” or “trim”. I grew up with four siblings in a 1,000 square foot home and we did okay.

However, I’m in the minority in my thinking. The average new home in 2008 was over 2,500 square feet. Because, of course, the kids each need their own bedrooms. And, bathrooms. And, playrooms.

Yikes.

On the other side, completely, are these “trim” studio condos. These are approximately-270 square feet. Glorified dorm rooms, pretty much.

The cost? Hard to say. Depends on where they’re built. Presumably, they’d be appealing to city-dwellers, people who spend little time in their apartments.

The Vancouver “micro-loft” apartments are going to cost an estimated $675-$750 USD when they are done, next year; someone making $25,000 could afford them, is the thinking, according to this website. (These apartments “benefit” from being in the “grungy” Downtown Eastside neighborhood of Vancouver.)

My guess? If they were sold as condos located in downtown Boston, they’d run $1,000 per square foot. So, $250,000 per condo. Parking extra, of course.

More details on the Vancouver micro-lofts can be found here and here.

Related posts:

1. South End single-family home rises from a parking lot
2. Back Bay Boston single-family home, 4-bedroom, 3 full 2 half-bathroom, 4860+/- square feet, listed at $5,299,000
3. Real-life answer to reporter’s rhetorical question: What does Vancouver have that Boston doesn’t
4. Luxury Back Bay Boston single-family home, $20 million, over 15,000 square feet of space
5. Boston real estate outlook 2010