19 April 2009

The McMansion invasion?

| johnboy
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The Canberra Times has the bombshell news that the city with the highest average incomes is building the largest average homes.

Sad news for the witterers on 666 talkback that no-one appears to be listening to them.

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neanderthalsis11:29 am 21 Apr 09

2604 said :

If you want to avoid ever accumulating significant wealth, upgrading to a bigger, more expensive house every few years is certainly an excellent way to go about it.

How so? Property is certainly a more secure option than the sharemarket or super in the current climate.

Property tends to be an appreciating asset so unless you take 30 years to pay off your mortgage, you’ll probably sell for more than the total principle and interest cost of the loan.

Die Lefty Scum10:46 am 21 Apr 09

I haven’t seen your house vg but I’m pretty sure I ain’t jealous of it. Not all of us buy the biggest house we can afford.

vg said :

I’d suggest the article and some of the above comments are simply derived through petty jealousy. My wife and I worked hard to get the house we have. If you don’t like that we actually don’t care. With any luck one day we’ll have an even bigger house

Jealousy? Not everyone needs to display status by living in a massive house with no backyard, an unnecessary (third) living area, al fresco dining area, etc.

If you want to avoid ever accumulating significant wealth, upgrading to a bigger, more expensive house every few years is certainly an excellent way to go about it.

I’m with Ralph on the freedom to have whatever house you like. And as for the economic downturn, well all I’ce seen is my mortgage interest rate go down, petrol prices go down and a few $ from KRudd for our troubles. Yeah sure super has gone down but it hammered up in the decade prior to the downturn and will come back.

I’d suggest the article and some of the above comments are simply derived through petty jealousy. My wife and I worked hard to get the house we have. If you don’t like that we actually don’t care. With any luck one day we’ll have an even bigger house

Goo indeed.

“greed is goo, its what advances our society”
Oh
My
God!

Sorry – I meant ‘economic’.

Ralph said :

Greed is good, its what advances our society.

Ralph, have you just had a very big sleep in and missed the global ecenomic crisis?

People are free to have whatever house they want.

It is only the liberal elites who sit around yammering Clive Hamilton statements about greed, materialism etc.

Greed is good, its what advances our society.

Skidd Marx said :

I think the point the article is trying to make is that Gungahlin symbolises everything that is wrong with todays shallow, materialistic society.

Heck yeah!

Skidd Marx said :

I think the point the article is trying to make is that Gungahlin symbolises everything that is wrong with todays shallow, materialistic society. Canberrans conceitedly think they’re smarter and greener than the rest of Australia, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

The McMansion thing isn’t just limited to Gungahlin – the same thing is going on in the new part of Bonython, reconstructed parts of Duffy, Dunlop, and so on.

A ‘McMansion’ is anything 30-40sq in size, but they’re talking averages. There are very few actual McMansions being built in reality, and most new land isn’t big enough to do it in the first place.
I think they’re just twisting stats and figures to make a ‘story’ out of nothing.

I think the point the article is trying to make is that Gungahlin symbolises everything that is wrong with todays shallow, materialistic society. Canberrans conceitedly think they’re smarter and greener than the rest of Australia, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy5:56 pm 19 Apr 09

Dwellings across Australia have grown bigger across Australia over the past few decades. It’s one of the reasons housing costs more now, on average, than it used to.

I suspect that the reporter made up the part about “the biggest new homes in the nation”. The average new home in Canberra is not that big (but it is very expensive considering what you get). I suppose the Canberra Times likes the word “McMansion”, makes them feel hip and modern.

arescarti42 said :

From the article,

“We’re turning into a nation of hotel hermits”

What kind of statement is that? Wait, I know, a weak one.

That barely qualifies as news, who knows how it made front page.

Only the photo made the front page. The article was on page 6. Scanning the paper I can’t see another picture that would have been any better. They could have substituted the photo of Skippy with a large one of road kill from “Roo prang”, the only article on page one but they do want to sell more not less papers. Slow news day.

Given that CT seems to be held in low esteem by the proprietor it’s a wonder so many stories are sourced from it.

I would say just read it online however they’ve taken to cutting the article short and sticking

For more, pick up a copy of today’s Canberra Times

at the bottom of it.

Hate to tell them, but that’s not going to sell more papers, I’ll just get my news from other online sources.

This morning’s CT was one of the most pathetic newspapers I have ever read in my life. I’m seriously thinking of cancelling my subscription.

From the article,

“We’re turning into a nation of hotel hermits”

What kind of statement is that? Wait, I know, a weak one.

Annoyingly that article doesn’t actually have anything to say about new houses being built. Nothing about the implications of bigger houses, or why anyone should even care.

That barely qualifies as news, who knows how it made front page.

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