“If you have a house that’s easy to maintain, obviously you don’t have to put as much time and money and energy into maintaining it,” said Debbie Brenneman, a broker with the Corcoran Group.
Smaller, she added, is a relative term as well. “If you go from 13,000 to 8,000 square feet, it’s still a large home.”
Bells and Whistles, Minus the Tennis Court
People might be buying smaller houses, but that doesn’t mean that they’re skimping on luxury. “The bells and whistles are inside the houses,” said Brennan. “There’s no lack of that.”
Buyers of houses— even ones fronting the ocean—want to have pools, while “smart” homes filled with tech, elaborate outdoor seating areas, and homes with so-called “flexible” layouts (meaning they’re open plan, rather than having dedicated dining, living, and entertaining rooms) are in vogue.
Brennan points to the home theater as emblematic of the trend.
“Before, everyone’s theater had to be bigger than the next,” he said. “Now they’re doing flex-rooms, where the screen can come down, but when it’s up, it can be a rec room for the kids.”
Tennis courts, once considered a beacon of the blue-blooded life, have also fallen from favor.
“It’s not an imperative for most people,” Moore said. And even when it is, buyers soon find that it’s more for show than regular use. “Some people still seem to like the fact that they could at least put a tennis court on the property,” Brennan said. “But they don’t use it.”
Getting a Deal