More people choosing smaller homes, downsizing for simpler living

July 1, 11:24 AMSimple Living ExaminerSallie Schaaf Borrink

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There is increasing evidence that a fundamental shift is occuring in the psyche of the American citizen with more people deliberately choosing to buy less, including downsizing when purchasing a home. 

MarketMixUp.com reports that many people are no longer interested in McMansions, but instead are looking for something cozy when purchasing a home. In Downsized America: Homebuyers Look for Less they write:

While Kelman said most people are looking at smaller homes for financial reasons, he also said that “something has changed in American society.”

“I think there is just now this feeling that the McMansion is now gross,” he said.

There are some baby boomers who are now downsizing, but Kelman said most of the change is actually coming from families who would normally be looking to upgrade.

“People that you would normally expect to get to as much land as they could, as many bedrooms as they could are just making do with less. They like a cozier house and they want to simplify their life.”

He said they are just tired of trying to keep up with the place, tired of cleaning a large house and tired of maintaining it.

Kelman should know. He just moved from a single family home to a townhouse.

“As soon as I was in there, I just felt lost in the center of this big house,” he said of the old place. “There were rooms we never went into. There were boxes we never unpacked.”

There are certainly naysayers who believe that as soon as the recession begins to lift Americans will go back to their high consumption ways.  But depending on the length and severity of the recession (or possibly eventual depression), it is increasingly conceivable that the heyday of McMansions and conspicuous consumption is over.