TASMANIAN new houses remain the smallest in the nation, according to a report showing Australia continues to build the world’s biggest houses.
The latest CommSec Home Size Report reveals the average new house built in Australia in 2019-20 was 235.8 square metres, up 2.9 per cent on the previous 12 months and the biggest increase in 11 years.
In contrast, US houses built over the 2019 calendar year fell in size for the fourth year, down 3 per cent to 233.1 square metres, according to data commissioned by CommSec from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The size of the average new apartment in Australia rose 6 per cent over the past year, hitting a decade-high of 136.8 square metres.
The CommSec Home Size Trends report tracks home size over time and details the average sizes of new houses and apartments built over the past financial year.
The smallest new houses built were in Tasmania, where homes were 179 square metres on average, up 0.3 per cent on 2018-19.
The ACT built the biggest houses in Australia in 2019-20 at 256.3 sq m, ahead of Victoria (250.3 sq m), NSW (235 sq m) and Western Australia (232.5 sq m).
CommSec chief economist Craig James said before last year, Australian home buyers had been building progressively smaller houses on average, embracing apartments as well as smaller houses on smaller lot sizes.
“So while Aussies built bigger homes over the past year, the big question is whether the decade-long downtrend in home size has ended. And COVID-19 may play a big role in answering that question,” Mr James said.
“Government-imposed lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 virus have prompted more Aussies to reassess their housing needs. With more time spent at home for both leisure and work, some Aussies are looking for bigger homes.”
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