McMansion, R.I.P.

• January 28th 2009

by Will Smith

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As the economy recedes, energy prices fluctuate, and consumer products become ever greener, it seems that the era of the McMansion may be over. The U.S. Census Bureau has released statistics confirming what many had already predicted: Americans are buying smaller homes. Both the average and median size of homes on which construction started in the third quarter of last year declined.

The average size dropped over seven percent from 2,629 square feet to 2,438, while the median size dropped almost nine percent from 2,291 square feet to 2,090. “This is the first time we have seen such a significant decline,” Gopal Ahluwalia, vice president for research at the National Association of Homebuilders, told The Washington Post.

The trend isn’t surprising. Bigger houses are more expensive, and those consumers that are in the market for new homes these days are likely being conservative with what they spend. Furthermore, big houses cost more to maintain over the long term. Lastly, the McMansion has become a symbol of the overreaching, credit-fueled excess of the housing bubble. In these dire economic times, even those who can legitimately afford a big house may opt for something less opulent. Much as the gas-guzzling SUV fell out of favor with consumers as it disagreed with their wallets and their increasing environmental consciousness, the McMansion has lost favor for both economic and philosophical reasons.

The question is, what will happen to the thousands of McMansions that were built over the last decade but which are now foreclosed upon, unsold, or otherwise uninhabited? One provocative theory from The Atlantic speculates that the McMansion neighborhoods of yesterday could devolve into the slums of tomorrow.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/mcmansion_rip/486.