The rise (and fall?) of McMansions
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https://thehustle.co/originals/why-america-has-so-many-big-houses?utm_placement=newsletter
We bought our 1960s vintage house in 1980. It's right around 1700 square feet. We watched Teardown Mania run rampant in our town for a couple of decades, with smaller more affordable homes being sacrificed for soulless and cookie cutter McMansions. I'm glad to say that it seems like the trend is reversing. People are buying and remodeling those 50s and 60s homes rather than tearing them down.
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One factor I heard attributed for the increase in house size in my area was the desire for transient residents to park the home value of the house in a more expensive area they were leaving in a home with comparable cost here to shield capital gains from taxation. Therefore, they would purchase more house than they might otherwise need to keep that value invested in a primary residence, anticipating that it might be needed when moving again or simply to delay or avoid any capital gains taxes on the property.
We've joked sometimes about how not all the McMansions can be owned by drug dealers or sports stars.
Big Al
