Americans’ ideal home size declined to 2,100 square feet from a peak of 2,300, according to real estate research firm Trulia. (The full account of this trend was laid out by Kaid Benfield at Atlantic Cities, and it’s worth checking out.)

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Meanwhile, the U.S. Census bureau has found that the ideal home size tracks with the reality — the average size of a new U.S. single family home is also down.

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When will this trend end? It’s hard to say, but it’s clear that you can manage a dissolute modern Western lifestyle without needing a cavernous home. U.S. homes would have to shrink to nearly a third their current size to match the average size of a home in the U.K.