Upsize my American houses to McMansion value deal.

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Upsize my American houses to McMansion value deal.

kingdragonfly

10963 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#207885 18-Jan-2017 11:54

From the American organization "National Association of Homebuilders"

Year and average square meters of new homes

1950 -- 91 Sq meter
1970 -- 139
1990 -- 193
2013 -- 249

"nearly half, 48%, had 4 or more bedrooms
35% had 3 or more full bathrooms
22% had a garage for at least 3 cars
60% were 2-stories."

The median income of new house buyers was NZ $149,205 (probably two incomes)

http://eyeonhousing.org/2014/02/why-are-new-homes-getting-so-big-look-at-whos-buying-them/

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#1705182 18-Jan-2017 12:36

I think you'll find that Australia is #2, then NZ at #3 position for building on average the largest houses.

Tradepub

Free professional, reference and technical white papers (affiliate link).

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Vocus

#1705183 18-Jan-2017 12:39

Fred99:

I think you'll find that Australia is #2, then NZ at #3 position for building on average the largest houses.

I very much doubt that TBH, assuming apartments/flats are excluded

edit: did some research

(based on 2009 data) Australia have the largest, followed by the USA

http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house

NZ data not present but

https://www.qv.co.nz/resources/news/article?blogId=61

indicates 149m2 (2011 data) - so we are about 5th versus the data in the first site

Behodar

10308 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1705185 18-Jan-2017 12:41

How do you measure the area of a two-storey house? Do you double it, or just take the base figure and say that it has two storeys?

For reference, my 1974 place has a base area of 161 m², and is two storeys.

Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#1705186 18-Jan-2017 12:47

Behodar:

How do you measure the area of a two-storey house? Do you double it, or just take the base figure and say that it has two storeys?

For reference, my 1974 place has a base area of 161 m², and is two storeys.

Ahh neither of those?

There is more than one way, but you can do it on a room by room basis.

richms

27892 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1705188 18-Jan-2017 12:53

Top storys are usually smaller thanks to hight to boundary limitations, so doubling the slab size wouldnt help much.

Richard rich.ms

MikeAqua

7767 posts

Uber Geek

#1705211 18-Jan-2017 13:31

For a two level house. You just calculate the floor areas of both floors and total them

CAD software will do it for you at the design stage. If the house is already built you can do it with a tape measure.

Mike

Behodar

10308 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1705212 18-Jan-2017 13:38

I probably didn't phrase that too well - but you've both answered my question :)

I was thinking more from a "reporting" perspective rather than physical area, but it looks like they're one and the same. My place is therefore closer to 235 m², or 170 if you exclude the internal garage.

richms

27892 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1705213 18-Jan-2017 13:44

Behodar:

I probably didn't phrase that too well - but you've both answered my question :)

I was thinking more from a "reporting" perspective rather than physical area, but it looks like they're one and the same. My place is therefore closer to 235 m², or 170 if you exclude the internal garage.

You put a laundry tub in the garage so you can include it ;)

Richard rich.ms

kharris

1209 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1705228 18-Jan-2017 14:21

Behodar:

I probably didn't phrase that too well - but you've both answered my question :)

I was thinking more from a "reporting" perspective rather than physical area, but it looks like they're one and the same. My place is therefore closer to 235 m², or 170 if you exclude the internal garage.

If the garage is internal then it is included in the calculation when quoting floor area.

Kirk

Behodar

10308 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1705229 18-Jan-2017 14:22

Interesting! My place is apparently bigger than I thought (yet still smaller than my parents'...)

LennonNZ

2458 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1705245 18-Jan-2017 14:38

What about this house in Japan..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsDZKCvpYL4

Its 8 Squares Meters and still very usable .

Disrespective

1921 posts

Uber Geek

#1705253 18-Jan-2017 14:54

My house is 87m2, 4 people, three bedrooms and we love it. Granted, another 25m2 would help with storage, and perhaps another bedroom/ensuite, but that's still ~115m2. Our planning is very efficient and i'm in the process of adding ~30m2 of decking to extend the living space for the kids, but this doesn't add to the calculated floor area of the house.

The size of new houses astounds me. I can't imagine having to clean all the things that would accumulate! Some of our clients are pushing for 300m2 (some for their holiday homes), but they live in a world I only get to see through them so I can't really fathom the need. I'm pushing all my clients to shrink the house and extend the outdoors for both homes and baches but it's slow going, a big house is still something many aspire to.

mattwnz

19996 posts

Uber Geek

#1705273 18-Jan-2017 15:21

Disrespective:

My house is 87m2, 4 people, three bedrooms and we love it. Granted, another 25m2 would help with storage, and perhaps another bedroom/ensuite, but that's still ~115m2. Our planning is very efficient and i'm in the process of adding ~30m2 of decking to extend the living space for the kids, but this doesn't add to the calculated floor area of the house.

The size of new houses astounds me. I can't imagine having to clean all the things that would accumulate! Some of our clients are pushing for 300m2 (some for their holiday homes), but they live in a world I only get to see through them so I can't really fathom the need. I'm pushing all my clients to shrink the house and extend the outdoors for both homes and baches but it's slow going, a big house is still something many aspire to.

It is really each to their own. The same applies to the design and look of houses. The vast majority of houses of houses in NZ appear to be off the plan, so not designed for the end user or the site they are plonked on. Many are also ugly with no design to them at all. There seems to be a move to those horrible beige insipid bricks are the moment with are popular in Oz. Essentially many are just extruded plans up to 2.4m with a hipped roof on top. Whereas if you have a high stud, the space can feel a lot larger, and you fit in a mezzanine floor to get more usable space out of the floor

Going for a bigger house is often economics, as you usually get a better economy of scale building bigger. eg The sqm rate on a small house will usually be more expensive, than with a larger house. When it comes to selling, you can also get more for it, as potentially it will have a larger number of people who will be interested. eg people don't usually complain their house is too big, they usally complain their house is too small and everyone is on top of one another. For example when you have teenagers, they need their own spaces and own living room etc. A poorly designed small house can be pokey, and I have seen many example of those. Some people also spend a lot of time inside, work from home, and have a lot of stuff, so need more space. It all comes down to how you live. With crime the way it is at the moment, outside living isn't as easy as it once was. The other big plus with a large house, is if designed well, you can rent out part of it, or do airbnb.

richms

27892 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1705299 18-Jan-2017 15:48

Outside living for kids died in the 80's when computers became a thing. Old people reminising about playing in the back yard did not have the entertainment options on offer today.

Richard rich.ms